


Einsteins at Work

by Paladin777



Series: What Came Next [8]
Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladin777/pseuds/Paladin777
Summary: Jeremy and Aelita are just about to graduate Collage. What awaits them once they get their degrees, and how will the two geniuses make their way in the real world together. The story takes place about 6 months after the epilogue of Keeping in Touch. Obvious JxA. YxU and OxSi are together, but will be mostly in the background.
Relationships: Jeremie Belpois/Aelita Schaeffer, Odd Della Robbia/Sissi Delmas, Yumi Ishiyama/Ulrich Stern
Series: What Came Next [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880596
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. To Grandmother's House we Go

**Author's Note:**

> This is story number 7 in the WCN continuity, and as such it builds off of many events in the previous stories that have all taken place between the end of the main show (not including CL:E) and now. That being the case, I would recommend reading the stories in the order I have listed in my Bio, but ultimately that's up to you.

_Seven Years, Five Months after XANA's deletion._

_Early April_

_To Grandmother's House we go_

_We are beginning our final approach towards Newcastle Airport imminently. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables up and your seat backs in the full upright position. Thank you_

The pilot announced over the plane's loudspeaker. It wasn't necessary with Jeremy Belpois though. He had been white-knuckle gripping his armrests since they took off from their last layover in London.

"See, we're almost there and we haven't even hit hardly any turbulence," said Aelita, alternating between patting his hand and rubbing his shoulder gently. His pink-haired fiancé was being comforting for the moment while he was still scared, but she knew that she'd be unable to resist teasing him at least a little once they'd landed! He had faced death countless time with a brave face, but fact that he was petrified by flying never failed to amuse her!

Several minutes later there was a loud 'WHUMP' sound which made Jeremy renew his grip!

"Everything's going to be fine, that was just the landing gear..." despite Aelita's reassurances, the young man didn't relax one bit until the plane came to a complete stop.

"For as many times as you've flown, I can't believe it still scares you!" Aelita pestered Jeremy playfully when they entered the terminal, earning her a glare. He wrinkled his nose and lightly gave her an equally playful shove, causing her to giggle.

"Jeremy! Aelita! Over here!" The couple looked over toward the voice to see a tall young man with dark hair waving to them. His eyes were shut even as he called over.

"Hi William!" Greeted Aelita when the couple got close enough, and she surprised him with a brief hug. "It's good to see you!"

"Thanks for offering to give us a ride to my grandparents, we really appreciate it," said Aelita.

"Trust me, it's not a problem. You guys helped me get my life back!" William opened his eyes for just a second to get a better sense of where his friends were standing, then got close. "I also really need to talk to you guys, and I wanted it to be in person," he whispered before pulling back again while Jeremy and Aelita exchanges confused looks.

"Ok, we'll talk on the road," said Jeremy. William helped the two of them collect their luggage, and they headed to his car with Aelita walking strategically behind William. Once arriving, the young couple immediately noticed that it was no longer the cluttered mess it was the last time they rode with him. They smiled at each other, happy that William seemed to be doing better in all aspects of his life. They loaded up their bags, got in, and took off.

"So, exactly one week until Odd and Sissi's big day, huh?" William asked when they were on the open road.

"Uh huh!" Replied Aelita excitedly.

"I remember the first time I saw them two holding hands, I thought I was going crazy!" All three of them laughed. When the laughter died down, William got quiet. "I guess I realized it was serious when she said that you guys told her about Lyoko." Jeremy and Aelita looked at him curiously, not sure what he was getting at.

"We could see how much it hurt, knowing that we were hiding something from her," said Aelita quietly.

"I know what you mean..." he replied, barely above a whisper. "At first Lily was ok with me not telling her about everything that happened..." he sighed deeply. "But we've been together for over two years now, and not being able to open up has been hurting her for a while now, I can see it in her eyes. I think she might be starting to get resentful of you two because I _have_ shared everything with you guys. I don't even know how to tell her why without getting deeper into it." Jeremy and Aelita exchanged worried looks. "It hurts me too, not being able to open up to the person who means everything to me..."

"I can't even imagine how hard that is..." Aelita trailed off.

"I'm not asking for permission... I'm letting you know that I'm _going_ to tell her," the dark haired man said, a bit more assertively.

"Oh... ok..." replied Jeremy, worry written clearly over his face.

"But I _am_ asking if you would do it with me. If nothing else, that way you can use a return trip if it doesn't go well." Jeremy sighed and knew they really had no choice. He looked back at his fiancé. The concerned look on her face mirrored his, but she nodded regardless and he gave William their answer.

"Ok, we'll do it."

"Thanks Jeremy, Aelita." William said, while he breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you give us a ride from my grandparents in a couple days, we can pick up Lily and then go straight to the factory," suggested Aelita. "We can even take the car on the ferry."

"Alright, that sounds good." William said with a grateful smile.

"We're telling the others though, that's non-negotiable," said Jeremy and the dark haired man nodded. "If nothing else, I'd rather not have them freaking out over a random Return to the Past if it comes to that!"

"That's understandable, but knowing Lily I really don't that's going to end up being necessary."

"And we don't say anything incriminating until we get to the factory," added Aelita.

"Deal!" Exclaimed William, clearly happy with the way the conversation went, but then the car fell into uncomfortable silence. Jeremy and Aelita kept nervously glancing at each other, and after about a half hour William spoke again, more softly this time.

"Look guys, I'm sorry I didn't really give you a choice in the matter, but I want to spend the rest of my life with this girl. I can't ask that of her while we both know I'm keeping secrets from her. That just isn't fair."

"We understand, really. We've seen how that can really tear someone up," replied Aelita, referring to Sissi.

"We're just a bit nervous about telling someone that we've never met about everything," added Jeremy.

"I know. That's why I asked you two to be in on it. I figured I owed you guys at least that much."

"Ok then, I guess we should figure out exactly how we're going to go about it," Aelita said with a small sigh. The three of them then discussed what and how much they were going to reveal to Lily, and by the time they had a plan ironed out they had arrived at Aelita's grandparent's house. Like at the airport, William helped with their bags and when they walked up to the house Aelita knocked on the door. A short time later it opened revealing Neville Hopper. Upon seeing the young couple he grinned widely.

"Hi, Grandpa!" Greeted Aelita excitedly, giving her grandfather a big hug.

"Aelita sweetie, is that you?" Called Neville's wife Beatrix.

Seeing that his fiancé's face was buried in her grandfather's shirt, Jeremy called back into the house, "yes, it's us Mrs. Hopper."

Aelita and Neville let go of each other and stepped into the house with Jeremy following.

"Are you good if I just leave these here?" Asked William, while holding the bags he was carrying off to the side of the doorway.

"Yeah, that's fine," replied Jeremy, just as Beatrix walked into the front room wearing an apron

"Who's that with you?" She asked.

"Grandma, this is our friend William. He gave us a ride up here," introduced Aelita."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Hopper." The young man shook both of Aelita's grandparent's hands. "I'm going to head out now though."

"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner?" Asked Beatrix. "I'm making bangers and mash, and I've got enough for extra."

"I appreciate the offer, but I really need to get going. Thank you though." William smiled and left.

"Very well then," said Aelita's grandmother. "Would either of you like to give me a hand with supper? It's not as easy getting around as it used to be!" Jeremy and Aelita grinned. Unexpectedly, the art and science behind cooking never failed to fascinate the two of them and they all went into the kitchen.

"So who was that friend of yours? I don't remember you talking about him before," asked Beatrix, after setting Jeremy up with some potatoes to mash.

"Well, Uhh..." stammered Jeremy. Aelita giggled a little and shook her head before speaking up.

"Do you remember the guy we told you got possessed by XANA and fought against us for a while?" Recognition came over her grandmother's face.

"Oh! That William!" Aelita nodded. "He's very polite, and seems to be doing quite well all things considered."

"Yeah, he is," the pink-haired woman replied, deciding not to mention the conversation in the car. She picked up a knife to start shelling peas from their pods, and the three of them made small talk about cooking until dinner was done.

"So, how are things going with school for the two of you lately?" Asked Beatrix after they all sat down to eat.

"It's going well. I've got my dissertation mostly written, but I still need to run a couple more experiments when we get back to Boston to finish up," replied Aelita.

"I've just got editing and some figures to check on for mine," added Jeremy.

"Then you'll be Dr. Jeremy Belpois, and Dr. Aelita Stones!" Exclaimed Beatrix and everyone grinned... everyone except Aelita. Neville noticed his granddaughter's morose expression and touched his wife's arm gently. Having gestured to the upset girl, Beatrix's smile faded as well.

"Oh my, what's wrong dearie?" Aelita frowned and shook her head before answering.

"It's just that the name Stones is a lie... and always has been."

"Oh, sweetie..." Beatrix murmured.

"I should be getting my PhD as Doctor Schaeffer... or maybe Doctor Hopper..." she cried out, visibly upset. After she murmured, "the name of my family..." Jeremy took her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Aelita dear, you won't be Stones for much longer." She looked to her grandmother, who had a warm smile on her face. "Soon you'll be Dr. Aelita Belpois, and that name won't be a lie." Aelita sighed and smiled at Jeremy briefly before looking back to her grandparents.

"I know, and that is comforting, but all my certificates and diplomas will always have the name Stones on it." She took a breath before continuing. "I'm ok, really. If things didn't happen the way they did I would have never met Jeremy." She glanced to her fiancé for another moment. "It's just that sometimes living a fabricated existence can be hard." Jeremy gave her hand another reassuring squeeze.

"Even if the name is a false one, you're the one who earned the accomplishments." Aelita looked back at Jeremy. "And we know who you are, and where you're from. Me, your grandparents, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Sissi, and even William. We're all very proud of you." The young woman slid out of her seat and wrapped Jeremy in a big hug while her grandparents smiled at the couple.

"How did I get so lucky?" She whispered.

"I always thought I was the lucky one..." he whispered back.

"How about we say we're both lucky and leave it at that," Finding not objection to that, Jeremy grinned. Another few minutes more and the couple sat back down. The family finished dinner and they all looked forward to spending the next few days together.


	2. More Bean Spilling

_Early April_

_More Bean Spilling_

A few days later, Jeremy and Aelita were just finishing help Beatrix clean up a late breakfast when they heard knocking.

"I'll get it," called out Jeremy as he left the kitchen. He opened the front door to reveal William with his eyes tightly shut. "Hi, William. It's just me." The dark-haired man peeked with one eye hesitantly before opening both of them fully. He looked understandably nervous.

"Hi, Jeremy. You two... uhh... ready to go?"

"Uh huh, just give us a few minutes to say goodbye and get our stuff." William held his hand up in an easy-going manner.

"Not a problem, take your time!" Jeremy went back to the kitchen.

"Alright, it's about time to go," he announced, and Aelita gave her grandparents each a hug.

"We'll see you at the wedding," Beatrix said softly during her hug. Neville beamed happily at his granddaughter before turning to Jeremy to shake his hand. He'd seen it several times by now, but Jeremy always felt humbled by the warmth in the old man's eyes. Somehow they always seemed to communicate just as much as his long-lost voice ever would have been able to. After letting go of the hand shake, Neville put his hand on Jeremy's shoulder for a moment just before the young man found himself tightly wrapped up in Beatrix's embrace.

"You keep taking care of our darling Aelita, you hear?" She whispered to him.

"I will." The two pulled apart and grinned at each other and Jeremy spent a moment appreciating how much the elderly couple accepted him and his relationship with their granddaughter. From the day they had met he was treated like family, and he knew he would miss them tremendously when they inevitably passed. Shaking his bittersweet thoughts from his head, he bid his hosts goodbye and started taking luggage to the car.

"So, are you ready for this?" Aelita asked William when they had gotten on the road. He sighed deeply.

"As ready as I'll ever be... did you talk to the others?"

"Yes, we did," she replied.

"How did they take it?"

"Yumi and Ulrich weren't really happy, but they both knew that this would be coming sooner or later," answered Jeremy.

"Odd and Sissi were very supportive, but that's not surprising when you consider they had a similar situation," added Aelita, causing William to smile.

"Good." There was a pensive silence until Jeremy spoke several minutes later.

"So, what have you told her so far?"

"What do you mean, I haven't told her anything like we agreed!" William snapped. He sounded a little hurt when he answered.

"No, not about Lyoko, I mean about this trip. You had to have a least let her know that we're going for a long drive..." clarified Jeremy quickly.

"Oh, yeah... sorry. A while back I asked her not to make plans to today and tomorrow, and that's really about it." Jeremy and Aelita shot worried glances at each other.

"Let me make sure I understand correctly..." began Aelita, her agitation rising quickly, "we're going to be picking up your girlfriend, who doesn't know we're with you right now, who you've also said might be starting to resent us, to travel out of the country, overnight, and you've told her none of THAT!"

"Uhh... yeah... I thought we agreed that we weren't going to tell her anything..." replied William sheepishly, and Jeremy sighed.

"No William," he said, giving his fiancé a chance to calm down. "We said we weren't going to say anything incriminating, but she at least needs to know that we're going on a trip! At this time of day you're probably not going to make the ferry back to England after we're done at the factory so you're going to need to get a hotel room." William blushed severely. He clearly wasn't kidding when he said he intended on taking things slow!

"Which means she's going to need to pack at least an overnight bag and make sure she has her passport!" Added Aelita. She'd calmed down a little, but was clearly still frustrated, and William's cheeks went from flushed to pale in seconds.

"William, I'm normally pretty bad at social etiquette and norms and stuff like that, but even I know you screwed up. You need to call her... like now." Jeremy deadpanned.

"Ok, ok! Give me a second!" Clearly realizing his error, William looked like a deer in headlights as he pulled out his phone and called his girlfriend.

"Hey, Babe." He greeted when Lily must have answered.

"Umm, so you remember how I asked you to keep today and tomorrow open?" Jeremy and Aelita waited with baited breath at the storm that they knew was just about to happen. "Yeah, could you pack an overnight bag... and make sure to bring your passport...?"

'What, why?' Lily's voice over the phone was loud enough for both geniuses to hear, and her confusion could be heard clearly. William sighed as he pondered how to respond.

"Because I need to show you something... in France."

'What's in France!?' Lily asked incredulously.

"I... I promise you that it will be worth it."

'Oooooook... when are you going to be here?' Not knowing the exact answer to that he looked to Jeremy frantically! Thankfully, the genius had been paying attention to the time and already knew.

"About an hour and a half," he whispered, and William relayed the message.

'Alright, I'll see you then.' She understandably seemed a little upset at the short notice.

"Bye sweetie." With that, William hung up.

"Well, at least now she knows that she's in for a road trip," Aelita said, shaking her head. "William, what are we going to do with you...?"

"I guess I was just so worried about everything that I didn't think about the details..." He sighed and turned the radio on.

"Are you ready?" Aelita asked William when they finally made it to Lily's place and were standing in front of her door. He took a very deep breath.

"Yeah. I just hope that _she_ is." William mumbled before knocking. A minute later the door opened to reveal a somewhat short, slightly heavier set young woman with bobbed mousy brown hair, and a pretty face that was lightly dusted with freckles. Currently, her mouth hung open slightly and her green eyes scrunched in confusion. "Hi Lily, I'd like you to meet Jeremy and Aelita. Jeremy and Aelita, this is my girlfriend Lily." William gestured first to the two geniuses, then back to the young woman standing in the door.

"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you," greeted Aelita, offering her hand and the brunette absently shook it. Her gaze swept between the three people standing in front of her a few times before settling on William.

"Blimey..." she said slowly in a thick English accent, then her expression soured. "Willy, step in here, I think we need to have a little chit chat..." William yelped as Lily yanked him inside by the wrist before turning back to the younger couple. "Excuse us." She shut the door and Jeremy and Aelita exchanges worried glances.

"It doesn't seem like we're off to a very good start, does it?" Jeremy asked Aelita quietly. She just shook her head as some muffled arguing was heard from inside. Several minutes later the door was opened again.

"I guess we're off to France..." said Lily flatly while scooping up a backpack that was sitting next to the door. She slung it on her shoulder walked right past the pair of geniuses with a scowl on her face. They shook their heads as William walked by, muttering an apology. The four of them got in the car and took off.

Aelita was sitting directly behind William to make it harder for him to see her, Jeremy was in the passenger's seat because he was the tallest and would have never fit in the back of William's tiny car. Aelita looked at Lily sitting next to her. She was watching England go by outside and through her faint reflection in the window, it was easy for Aelita to see that she was in a pretty foul mood. The pink-haired woman glanced down and noticed that Lily's legs happened pretty cramped from Jeremy's seat.

"Jeremy, do you think that you could scoot up a little?" She asked, getting a strange look from the angry woman.

"Sure, no problem." He moved his seat and Lily immediately looked more comfortable.

"Thank you." She muttered, now looking conflicted because of the other woman's consideration, as well as the kind smile she was receiving. Still, no one else seemed to want to further break the tense silence, and the car was quiet until they were driving off the ferry into France.

"So Lily," began Aelita when she'd had enough of the silence, "I know William hasn't told you much about what's going on, but what all _has_ he told you?" The brunette resumed her earlier scowl.

"Almost nothing. Just that it would be worth it. After he called, I kinda thought it might be a romantic holiday, but then you two showed up!"

"William, I think you need to tell her what's going on," chimed in Jeremy, hoping they'd be able to quell Lily's frustration at least a little.

"Yeah, you're right." William took a deep breath, then glanced back at his girlfriend. "We're telling you everything, and we're going to where it all happened..." The anger drained from Lily's face and she gasped.

"And by everything, you mean the nightmares, your depression..."

"Yeah, everything that I know about what went on _." S_ everal seconds went by before she responded again.

"Ok... you couldn't have just told me at home? And why do they need to be here?" She asked, gesturing to Jeremy and Aelita.

"Because the truth is a bit... unbelievable," replied Aelita. If we were to just tell you about it, there's a good chance you'd think we were crazy, or just made it all up. That's why we're going to show you the proof of it. There's one other reason, but we'll tell you that one later."

"They're here because it's really their story. My involvement is just a small part of it," added William.

"We'll answer questions when we get there, ok?" Lily looked a lot less angry than before and now looked more nervous than anything else.

"Bloody hell," she muttered. "Is this dangerous... or illegal?"

"As far as legality goes, we're just doing a little bit of trespassing on a property that's been abandoned for years. It used to be dangerous but isn't anymore," said Aelita, placing her hand reassuringly on the other woman's shoulder, who sighed. "We've done things that are technically illegal in the past, but we had very good reasons for them."

"Alright then." No one else said anything else after that. William turned the radio on to try to break the tension, but it didn't work very well.

About an hour later, William pulled into a parking lot that bordered on the woods that the Hermitage was in.

"This it?" Asked Lily.

"We're close," replied Jeremy. "But we don't want to park too close so we're going on foot from here on out."

"I'm glad I wore my good trainers..." Lily muttered, looking down at her shoes.

The four walked quietly through the woods until they reached the ruined house that Aelita once called home.

" _Now_ is this it?" Asked Lily, starting to get irritated.

"No, it's a little bit further," replied Jeremy, causing her to groan.

They led her to the secret passage to the sewer, and other than Lily's brief commentary on the smell the trip through the sewer was pretty uneventful.

"This is it, announced Jeremy when they finally stood before the massive entryway to the factory after climbing up out of the manhole. "How are you doing William?"

"I'll be fine, let's go."

"What is this place?" Asked Lily while they were approaching the elevators.

"It's an old car factory, but that's not the important part." Jeremy answered as he hit the button to go down. Despite the dim lighting, it was pretty easy to see Lily's apprehension, and William pulled her close from behind. She gasped when the door opened to reveal the three scanners.

"Whoa." She whispered as she pulled away from William and entered the room. "What the, this place is ace!"

"This is the scanner room." Jeremy gestured to the tall vertical cabinets. "These are what allowed us to go to Lyoko to combat the rogue AI called XANA. Lyoko is the virtual landscape within the supercomputer housed in this factory. We never did figure out exactly what XANA's end goal was, but it couldn't have been good," answered Jeremy. "There were five of us Lyoko Warriors."

"Lyoko Warriors, supercomputer?" Lily asked with eyebrows raised in skepticism. "Sounds like a bad Saturday morning cartoon..."

"Yeah... we were young when we named ourselves..." Jeremy said with a smirk before getting serious again. "Anyway, after a long while things started to get a bit rough, and we ended up recruiting another Warrior." Lily looked like she didn't believe a word he was saying, but must've thought the story was interesting enough to listen anyway.

"This new guy was a real hot-head though, and got himself possessed by XANA on his first mission," added William.

"And he spent the next several months being forced to fight against the rest of us as one of XANA's greatest weapons. Eventually we managed to free him, and delete XANA, but it took two years of hard fighting to do so." finished Aelita. The room was silent as everyone waited for Lily to respond. She rubbed her forehead with both hands for several minutes before she looked up with a chuckle.

"Ok, I get it, you're just having a laugh at my expense, right?" Looking around, she stopped laughing when she saw that the other three looked deathly serious. "Umm... you're not joking." William shook his head. "Then you're all barking mad." He placed his hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it off angrily. "And why'd you even bother telling me about that wazzock who got possessed anyway!?"

"No, we're not crazy, and this place is real. Everything we just told you is true... and that 'wazzock' was me." At William's admission, her anger faded substantially. "The nightmares I have about trying to kill my old friends aren't just things my mind made up... it really happened. That's what makes those dreams so painful..." he continued quietly. He tried putting his hand back on his girlfriend's shoulder and this time she let him, though she did flinch a little at his touch. Lily closed her eyes tightly and took several deep breaths and looked like she was trying to keep from crying.

"You know... I want to believe you, but I can't. It's just too _un_ believable. I'm sorry, Willy." She turned around and started walking to the elevator.

"Wait!" Called out Aelita, causing the brunette woman to turn back around. "We've got one more thing to show you."

"What's that?"

"Lyoko..."


	3. Proof

_Early April_

_Proof_

"No way!" Shouted William, startling the other three people. "You are _not_ sending her to Lyoko."

"Why not?" Asked Lily.

"Because going to Lyoko isn't safe, and that was _never_ part of the plan!" Lily looked to Aelita.

"I thought you said that it wasn't dangerous anymore?"

"With XANA being gone, it's really not." The pink-haired woman replied.

"What if XANA comes back when you turn it on!" Argued William.

"We've already had it back on a few times since high school, and no sign of XANA," retorted Jeremy. William was starting to get on both his and Aelita's nerves.

"How could you do that!?" William fumed. "I had _months_ of my life taken aw..."

"Eleven years, William!" Yelled Aelita, having had enough. Both William and Lily shrank away at her outburst. "Sure, you lost months and that was terrible, but I spent eleven _years_ in that machine! My mother died while my father and I were trapped, never knowing about what happened to us, and _he_ had to sacrifice himself in order to destroy XANA for good! While we were still battling XANA, I'd been electrocuted, possessed, deleted, thrown into the digital sea, had my memory violated repeatedly by the schyphozoa, and even had complete cardiac failure multiple times! If anyone knows how dangerous fighting XANA was, it's ME!" Jeremy pulled his shook up fiancé close into a tight hug, which seemed to eventually calm her down. After several minutes he turned his head to address Lily, who was still staring at Aelita in shock.

"It seems that you're not going to just believe us at our word, which is actually pretty understandable, considering what it is we're trying to convince you. That being the case, it looks to me like you've got two options." The brunette woman wrested her attention away from Aelita and listened intently. "You can keep on not believing us and leave here with William..." Jeremy glanced at the dark-haired man who cast his eyes down in defeat, knowing what would happen if they left.

"So you're telling me that we can just go and pretend that this didn't happen?" Lily asked skeptically. "I thought that this was your big secret..."

"Not exactly," Jeremy replied. "You see, there's another function of the supercomputer that allows us to reverse up to a certain period of time, and the only people that know what happened before the reversion are the people that have been already scanned into the computer. Lily's eyes practically popped out of their sockets.

"Wait, you're telling me that you can go back in time!" Jeremy opened his mouth to reply, but Aelita pulled away from his hug and interrupted him before he could further overwhelm the poor woman with his usual technobabble.

"Close enough. Anyway, if you leave here we will execute a Return to the Past and return to yesterday afternoon. You won't remember any of this, but we will and that includes William. That means that now he'll always know that you won't believe the truth if he tries to tell you."

"He'll eventually either need to lie to you about his past, or never tell you at all. Either one will cause a serious breach in trust between the two of you... one that won't go away," added Jeremy. Lily glanced at the downcast look on her boyfriend's face and nibbled her bottom lip nervously. She turned back to Jeremy.

"I don't know if I fully believe that, but I'm also not sure I'm willing to risk it being true either. What's the other option."

"You go with Aelita to Lyoko for proof of what we're telling you. She was going anyway to collect some data for our doctoral theses." Lily thought to herself for a few seconds, then she walked over to William and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I said that I want to believe you, and I meant that. I'm not sure how going to this Lee-oh-ko is supposed to prove anything, but if this will convince me, then I need to do it." William gulped, clearly worried.

"… Ok."

"Are you going to come with us?" Aelita asked William.

"I probably shouldn't, just in case there a piece of XANA left in me." William tapped on the side of his head.

"As unlikely as that is, you're probably right in that it's best not to risk it," confirmed Jeremy. William put his hands on the sides of Lily's shoulders.

"Just make sure to listen to everything Aelita tells you," he warned, "I didn't and that's what got me into trouble." He wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Ok then, I'm going to go start up the supercomputer and then head to the control room. I'll let you know when everything's ready over the intercom." After Jeremy left, Aelita walked over to the hugging couple and put a hand on each of their shoulders. Lily looked at her while William shut his eyes tightly.

"It's going to be alright. We've been to Lyoko a few times since deleting XANA. Even Sissi's been a couple times." William twitched and grunted in surprise, but said nothing. A minute later all the lights turned on, startling the three of them. After another couple minutes, Jeremy's voice was heard over the loudspeaker.

_Alright, go on ahead to the scanners._

Aelita took her place in one of the scanners, and with one last hug from William, Lily did the same.

_Scanner: Aelita, Scanner Lily_

_Transfer: Aelita, Transfer Lily_

_Virtualization!_

William gingerly placed his hands on the scanner that Lily was in, and when it opened without her in it he gulped and started breathing heavy.

_William, she made it just fine. If you come to the control room, you can talk to her._

The young man rushed to the elevator and slammed the button to go up. When the door opened, he bolted to the control panel and gripped the sides of the keyboard, almost knocking Jeremy out of his chair in the process!

"Lily! Are you there!?"

_Yeah, I'm here. This place is absolutely bonkers!_

William slouched in relief and sighed deeply.

"Just please get her back in one piece, Aelita."

_Not a problem, William._

"Thanks," he replied gratefully.

_I'm going to send you guys a visual, I think that William should see what his girlfriend looks like here._

She was in scarlet ballgown with black lace that looked like it came straight out of Victorian England, complete with puffy shoulders and skirt. The torso portion accentuated the curves of her figure in a very flattering way. Around her waist was a wide sash and hanging from it was a parasol that matched the dress. William's eyes perked up.

"Wow, you look gorgeous," marveled William.

_Thanks, Willy._

* * *

"How are you doing Lily?" Aelita asked with a smile, just as the overwing started appearing.

"I'm doing ok..." she said absently while gazing around at the otherworldly architecture of sector five. "I'll say it again though, this place really is bonkers. Is it normal to not be able to feel anything?" she asked, touching her face.

"Yes, but you get used to it quickly, and the other four sectors are a bit less... bizarre." Aelita assured, while mounting the overwing. "Hop on." Lily looked at the hovering platform skeptically.

"Is it safe?" Asked Lily, causing Aelita to giggle.

"Safer than the drive to get here!" The brunette woman eyed the overwing one last time before stepping onto the floating platform. "Hang on," warned Aelita, then they took off for sector five's terminal.

"Didn't you say that you were coming here to get something for your dissertation?" Asked Lily when they were about halfway there.

"For both of ours, actually," Aelita clarified. "My degree is in physics, and Jeremy's is in health science and technology. Together we're trying to reverse engineer the scanner technology so it can be used in the medical field. As they are right now, they can be used to completely reverse the effects of physical trauma to the body."

"Whoa, that's totally wicked!"

"We thought so too, but they can't be replicated and we have no way of moving them from this location. It's also our opinion that the world isn't ready for full body transfer technology like this. Jeremy's dissertation is on ways to scan the condition of the human body all the way down to a cellular level completely non-invasively. Mine, to put it simply, is in potential methods of breaking down matter to be stored electronically. Together our goal is to develop a method to virtualize, repair, and rematerialize tissues rapidly, a few cells at a time. Eventually, we'd like to see if we can expand its application to diseases and even genetic disorders, on which we're pretty sure it currently has no effect."

"No offense, but aren't you just filching off the tech here."

"No offense taken, and I can see why you'd think that. However, if this technology has an owner, it would be me." Lily gasped. "Anyway, here we are."

* * *

_Jeremy, could you mute the feed once the program is running? I'd like to talk to Lily in private._

William's eyes shot open and his head whipped toward Jeremy.

"What!? No, DON'T"

_It's alright William, Jeremy will still be able to monitor our condition without audio._

Defeated, the young man walked off slumped down against the wall.

* * *

"Ok Jeremy, the program is running," Aelita said after plucking away at the translucent terminal of sector five for a few minutes.

_Alright, I'm cutting the audio. I'll reconnect it when the program is done._

"Thanks, Jeremy. Ok, where were we?" Asked Aelita.

"You said that all this is yours..."

"Oh yeah, that's right. My father built this. He also programmed XANA, but it got out of control right as he virtualized the two of us for the first time. He ended up having to shut down the supercomputer with us in it. That was twenty... one years ago," explained Aelita, pausing to do some math.

"Wow," Lily murmured breathlessly. "Why did he build it?"

"Let's just say that there are some things that you shouldn't know for your protection as well as ours, This is one of them. You can ask William any questions you have when we're done here, but there are a lot of things he doesn't know either."

"Uhh... ok. So, how did you get out?"

"Almost ten years ago, Jeremy found the supercomputer and turned it on. That's when and how we met. It took him over a year to get me out, and it was almost another one before we managed to defeat XANA." Lily whistled.

"So... he saved you."

"Yes, he did." The pink haired woman replied with a smile. "He was so sweet too. When he first turned on the computer, I had no memories, so we both thought I was just a highly advanced artificial intelligence. Despite that, he treated me like a real living person, and patiently answered any and every question about the real world that my insatiable curiosity would come up with. Once I was materialized, he did his best to provide me with the means and encouragement to live a normal life, aside from the fight with XANA anyway. A few months after XANA's defeat we started dating, and now we're getting married soon."

"Aww, that's darling." Lily said with a smile.

"Thanks, but that's enough about me and Jeremy though." Aelita looked at the other woman intently. "You know that William loves you very much, right?"

"Yes," Lily muttered sheepishly.

"That's why he wanted to bring you here. He didn't want any more secrets between you two."

"Yeah, I get that. It's just that this is all so insane."

"Hmm, are you still having a hard time believing everything, even after coming here?" Asked Aelita with raised eyebrows.

"No, I believe you now, it's hard to deny what's right in front of me. I'm still a bit gobsmacked though."

"That's understandable."

_Aelita, Lily, I'm back. The program's done running._

"That took less time than expected," mumbled Aelita, glancing at the terminal. "Ok Jeremy, I think we're done here. Go ahead and bring us in." She turned back towards Lily. "Get ready, this next part can be a bit tiring."

Lily's eyes got wider as she saw Aelita dissolving into a cloud of pixels, and yelped when she saw that she was doing the same! The next thing she knew she was gasping at the waves of exhaustion that came from materialization. The scanner door opened and she collapsed forward into William's waiting arms.

"Well, now I'm quite knackered..." she chuckled quietly as William pulled her closer.

"I'm just glad you're alright." Lily let herself snuggle into her boyfriend's embrace.

"It really was quite safe, just like they promised." She reassured him.

"I think I'll leave you two alone. We'll be in the lab," announced Aelita while she headed toward the elevator. The hugging couple didn't pay her any mind as she left.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Lily whispered.

"It's ok, it's a pretty crazy story. I really don't blame you."

"And I'm sorry to hear about everything you went through." She reached up and cupped his cheek. "I can't even imagine what that must've been like, and you should be rather chuffed for getting over it as well as you have." William pulled away and smiled before he leaned down and kissed her. He rubbed up and down her sides a little causing her to squirm and giggle happily. "I assume that you had me pack an overnight bag for a reason..." she heckled once he stopped, making William blush a little.

"I figured we'd need to get a room for the night..."

"Hmm... maybe we'll get that romantic holiday after all." Lily teased with a coy smirk, closing the distance between them again and walking her fingertips up William's chest. "Perhaps a romantic dinner, then maybe watching one of those overpriced movies that the hotels sell in the room while having a bit of a cuddle..." William's blush darkened at his girlfriend's flirting, and noticed that she was sporting a rosy shade on her own cheeks.

"I think I'd like that..." he replied with a nervous grin. A moment later though, it faded. "We should probably ask if Jeremy and Aelita need a ride somewhere though."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Lily replied with a sigh and pulled away. The couple took the elevator to the main control center and found Jeremy and Aelita busily typing away.

"Hey guys," William greeted with his eyes shut.

"Hi, William!" Aelita returned his greeting cheerfully.

"Umm... are you guys going to need a ride anywhere?" He asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but we're good. We're getting dinner with Ulrich and Yumi later and we've made arrangements to ride with them," replied Jeremy without looking up from his screen. William and Lily grinned at each other.

"Go on and head up, I need to talk to them for a minute." Lily looked at her boyfriend in confusion briefly, but did as she was asked. When she had left, William turned to the pair of geniuses. "I can't thank you guys enough. I don't think I could have convinced her without your help."

"Of course, William," replied Aelita with a grin. "After all this I'd imagine you're planning on marrying her then?" The dark haired man rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, as long as she's up for it. I'll probably ask in a few months to give all this some time to sink in."

"That makes sense. Good luck!"

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but if she says yes, you guys won't be invited to the wedding."

"That's fine. The last thing you want on your special day is XANA flashbacks," said Jeremy matter-of-factly. "I figured that was why you didn't go to Ulrich and Yumi's wedding too.."

"Yeah, and I'm going to have to decline the invitation to yours too."

"We figured that, but we wanted to offer you an invitation anyway," added Aelita

"Thanks for understanding, I appreciate it. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye, William!" The young couple responded and he left. The two of them turned back to their computers and continued working while they waited to hear from Ulrich and Yumi.


	4. An Unpleasant Encounter

_Mid April_

_An Unpleasant Encounter_

It was the morning two days before Odd and Sissi's wedding, and Jeremy and Aelita entered the coffee shop the group had agreed to meet at. The plan was for all six of them to get light breakfast and spend the morning together, then break off into two groups for Odd and Sissi's bachelor and bachelorette parties. The two geniuses arrived before the others, but the shop was starting to get crowded. Glancing around the busy shop, they spied an empty booth along the wall that would fit all six of them.

"Jeremy, how about I go hold that table while you get our orders." Aelita offered.

"That sounds like a good idea," the young man agreed. "Would you like black tea with honey and a croissant?"

"That sounds wonderful, Jeremy." The pink haired young woman replied, smiling sweetly.

Aelita sat down and messaged Yumi and Sissi, informing them that her and Jeremy has arrived.

"Hey there, haven't seen you around here before." A low voice said, startling her. She looked up and saw a young man with dark hair who was dressed in mostly black. He also had a few facial piercings and a couple tattoos on his exposed forearms. He moved as if starting to sit down with his back to the door.

"I'm sorry, but I'm saving this table for some friends who are going to be here shortly," she said with forced politeness.

"Ah, come on! If they're anything like the guy you walked in with, then they're definitely holding back a girl like you. How about this, you ditch them and I'll show you some real fun!" Aelita glanced down at the rather modest white and yellow daisy-print sundress she was wearing, then over to Jeremy while she sat in confusion, wondering what he meant by 'girl like you.' After a few moments though, she groaned as she realized that he must have thought she dyed hair out of some sort of rebelliousness.

"No, I think I'd probably prefer to spend time with my friends, thank you." She glanced back to Jeremy and was thankful that he was hurrying over.

"Hello, can I help you?" He asked with the same forced politeness that Aelita had earlier.

"This is Jeremy. We're getting married in a few months," Aelita said forcefully, glaring at the stranger. He squinted at Jeremy in bewilderment before letting his gaze drift back to Aelita.

"That skinny nerd! A cutie like you needs a real man to take care of you!" Jeremy scowled and opened his mouth to retort, but never got the chance.

"That 'skinny nerd' is ten times the man you'll _ever_ be... Jacques!" The dark haired man's eyes shot wide open at Yumi's voice, who had just arrived. She walked around from behind him and planted herself firmly between Jacques and her friends. It took him a second to regain his composure, but when he did he smirked.

"Hey there sweetheart, missed..."

"Don't 'sweetheart' me!" Yumi interrupted. "How come you're not still in prison? You were sentenced to five years and it's only been half that!" He scowled and abandoned any pretense of being nice.

"I just got out on parole. I still owe you for that," he spat. With a jerk of his head a couple of people from a nearby table started making their way over. Yumi recognized them as two of the guys that ambushed her with Jacques a couple years before. "If you and your friends don't wanna get hurt, then you're gonna come with us... and they don't look like they'd put up much of a fight."

"I don't think so," Yumi snapped.

"There's no _bodyguard_ here to save you this time," he taunted.

"First: this is a pretty crowded room and even you're not that stupid to try anything here. Second: I think you're referring to my husband." All the blood drained from Jacques' face faster than Yumi or the two geniuses thought possible. "He's out parking the car, so you should probably leave before he gets here," she added with a smirk before glancing over his shoulder toward the door. Ulrich has just walked in, along with Odd and Sissi. "Too late..." The large man saw the confrontation taking place and hurried over to his wife.

Jacques' two friends watched Ulrich put his arm protectively around Yumi's waist and they paled noticeably before quickly returning to their seats. When Jacques saw that his backup abandoned him and Ulrich and Yumi both staring him down, he whirled around to try to run away and found himself practically nose to nose with a tall, very powerfully built woman... Sissi.

"I remember you from when I went with Yumi to court," the tall woman hissed. "You're Jacques." He gulped. "You should leave... now."

"Ok..." he whimpered.

"And stay away from my friends. If you don't, I'll find you and break your legs!" She growled before stepping aside. He took advantage of the opening and turned to run, but almost immediately fell flat on his face! Odd chuckled and glanced down at his foot that was sticking out, which was what caused Jacques to trip. The dark haired man scrambled to his feet and left as quickly as possible without even looking back.

"Who was that guy?" Asked Odd. "You were all glaring at him so I figured he was bad news and tripped him anyway!" The short blond said with a laugh.

"That was Jacques, the guy who ambushed me with a few of his buddies a couple years ago." Yumi replied mirthlessly, causing Odd's grin to twist in anger.

"Well I think we probably scared him off for good this time," Sissi said as she shot a glare at Jacques' two friends that were trying to sneak away quietly. When they noticed they'd been spotted they rapidly picked up the pace.

"Maybe you should still file a restraining order or something," suggested Aelita.

"Probably not a bad idea," replied Yumi with a sigh.

After the group watched the two goons leave, Jeremy glanced around and saw that the little altercation was quiet enough that it thankfully didn't cause much attention from the other patrons in the shop, so he turned the conversation to a much more pleasant subject.

"Alright, Lets just get some breakfast and then head out." The rest of the group murmured an agreement and placed their orders at the front counter and soon the encounter was all but forgotten as everyone was having a good time hanging out!

"So, where are we going?" Sissi asked Yumi when breakfast was done. The Japanese woman grinned.

"We've got a full day at the spa!" She exclaimed, causing Sissi to squeal in excitement.

"That's great!" Agreed Odd, "Some pampering would be good for you because you've been pretty stressed out lately!" Sissi snorted, but didn't disagree. He turned to Ulrich. "What about us?" The large man smirked with a gleam in his eye and said one word.

"Paintball..."

Jeremy groaned.

 **A/N:** I know this on is really short and a day late, but I've been working a ton of hours lately. The hours are going to continue until further notice, but I'm going to try to keep to my bi-weekly update schedule as much as I can. I hope you liked the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Chapter 5**

* * *

_Mid April_

_Differing Parties_

Aelita sat in the waiting room with Yumi and Sissi in anxious excitement. While Yumi assured her that she was in for the time of her life, the full day treatment package that her and Aelita agreed upon for Sissi's day out was a significant expense on a research assistant's salary. She also felt bad knowing that Jeremy was likely going to be returning from his outing with Ulrich and Odd tired and sore, whereas she was supposed to be relaxed and rejuvenated. Still, they had budgeted accordingly, and Jeremy had insisted that he would be fine.

"Hello, you must be the party for Yumi Stern," greeted a small woman wearing an outfit similar to Yumi's original Lyoko attire. The three friends all stood up.

"Yes, that's us," replied Yumi and the woman smiled.

"Follow me please."

* * *

"Stop worrying Jeremy, you're gonna have fun, I promise," assured Ulrich while the three guys were on the way to the paintball arena.

"I'm not worrying!" The tall blond retorted.

"Of course you're not, you've only been fidgeting since we sat down in the car from excitement, right Einstein?" Teased Odd from the back seat, causing Jeremy to growl slightly. "Besides, you've got a full day to recover before you get to wear yourself out again on the dance floor!" While it wasn't one of Jeremy's favorite pastime, the thought of dancing with Aelita made him smile.

"That's better!" Exclaimed Ulrich. He pulled the car into the parking lot of what looked like an old warehouse. "Anyway, we're here!"

* * *

First on the agenda was a massage, and Aelita nervously laid face down on the table. The idea of being mostly disrobed in front of a complete stranger made her a little uncomfortable, even if it was another girl. She'd never even been fully undressed in front of Jeremy! Not yet anyway... She smiled and felt her cheeks warm slightly at the thought of their upcoming wedding. There was a rustling in the cloth partition that separated her area from Yumi and Sissi's tables which shook her from her thoughts and caused her earlier unease to return.

"Ms. Aelita Stones, are you ready?" Asked the masseuse. Aelita winced slightly. Her fraudulent surname had been bothering her more and more the closer she came to her wedding. She put it out of her mind and answered.

"Yes." The woman walked up next to Aelita and she heard some rustling at a nearby table.

"Have you ever had a massage before?"

"Uh uh," Aelita replied. She twitched in surprise as a warm liquid drizzled across her back.

"That's fine, just relax and let me know if you want me to adjust the pressure." Aelita gasped and her worries melted away almost instantly as the masseuse started working at her shoulders...

* * *

Jeremy ducked behind a large wooden spool that served as cover and the heard the _crack-crack-crack_ of paintballs splattering on the opposite side. He figured it was just his luck that he was already being shot at a mere ten seconds into the first round! There was a loud sliding sound next to him and he jerked his head to the left just in time to see Odd scrambling back to his feet after diving behind the spool. He was somehow already covered in dirt and dust which he attempted to quickly brush off. His hands weren't any cleaner than his clothes, so he wasn't very successful.

"Alright, if we take that tower," the short blond gestured to an elevated wooden fort of dubious structural integrity about twelve meters in front of them, "then that'll give us a commanding view of the entire arena!" Looking at its location and how well it would protect any inhabitants, Jeremy agreed with his friend's assessment. Unfortunately, there was one problem...

"How do we get there without getting shot?" Jeremy asked frantically. Odd grinned wide enough to be visible through the tiny slits in his mask.

"I'll provide cover fire while you make a break for it!"

"What!?" The genius exclaimed.

"And when you get there, you can provide cover fire for me!"

"Argh, ok!" Grumbled Jeremy, and he got ready to run.

"Ready... GO!" Signaled Odd and Jeremy took off as fast as his legs would carry him! At first he heard the _fwap-fwap-fwap_ of Odd's gun behind him, but after a moment, the rest of the world melted away as adrenaline took over his system and he saw nothing but the fort that was rapidly approaching! He was halfway there, then three quarters, and with a feeling of elation, his foot hit the first of the stairs...

_Thud-thud-thud_

A sharp pain shot through Jeremy's shoulder, side, and thigh as he felt the sting of being hit, and the dismay of being out before firing a single shot. Raising his paintball gun over his head per the instructions for being out, he walked to the arena exit, now with a slight limp. On the way, he passed Odd.

"Sorry Einstein, I didn't see those guys over there." Jeremy just shrugged, knowing it wasn't really his scrappy friend's fault

Upon leaving the arena, Jeremy noticed that the amount of people on his team that were out far outnumbered the other team... he sighed and thought to himself that it was going to be a long day.

* * *

After the second treatment of the day, which was a body polish, Aelita couldn't help running her hands up and down her arms under her robe sleeves. She marveled at how soft her skin felt.

"Hi Aelita, feeling relaxed yet?" Asked Yumi when Aelita met back up with her and Sissi before their next treatment.

"Very, I wouldn't mind doing this more often!" Aelita replied happily.

"Yeah, this was a great idea Yumi, thanks for setting this up!" Added a very enthusiastic Sissi before wrapping her best friend in a big hug. "So, what next?" The tall woman asked after letting go. Aelita opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by one of the spa's employee's.

"Are you all ready for your salt soak and facials?" She asked. Sissi grinned widely, and her friend's eagerness made Aelita look forward to this next step as well.

"Yes, I think we are," Yumi replied, and when she saw the excitement on her friend's faces she started sporting her own self-satisfied smile.

* * *

Jeremy peeked above the crate he was using for cover just in time to see Ulrich make a zigzagging break for the flag that was in the center of the arena with Odd providing cover fire. The young genius knew that Ulrich was in excellent shape, but seeing the speed and agility he possessed in person was incredible! Ducking and weaving over, under, and occasionally through obstacles in the arena, he snatched the flag out of its holder and made a break for the home base. While watching, Jeremy saw a couple of guys poke out of cover and open fire on the large man. Bringing his own paintball gun to bear he peppered the area with the inaccurate weapon. One of the opponents ducked for cover, but the other one kept firing at Ulrich, managing to hit the athlete several times just before one of Jeremy's shots managed to connect.

Ulrich dropped the flag and walked to the arena's exit, and Odd bolted forward shooting his own suppressive fire from the hip in an attempt to finish what his large friend started. Jeremy knew that the small man hadn't seen the guy that had tagged out Ulrich, but when the opponent came out of cover again to shoot at Odd, Jeremy was ready for him. He pulled his trigger as rapidly as he could and moment's later the opposing team member raised his weapon over his head signaling that he'd been hit!

"YES!" The genius exclaimed as he pumped his fist in celebration just before he felt a couple of impacts on his chest. Raising his own weapon over his head, the genius started walking off the arena. Despite the stinging pain from being shot he couldn't help cracking a wide grin as he felt like he was finally getting the hand of this game. Odd could be seen crossing the threshold to their home base with the flag in hand, while Ulrich flashed Jeremy a thumbs-up for successfully covering his buddy allowing their team to win!

* * *

As Aelita was walking to the car with Sissi and Yumi, she had never felt more relaxed in her life! The skin on her hands and feet felt smoother than they'd ever been from the manicure and pedicure. Her hair, done up in a stylish pixie-bob that she thought looked really cute and Jeremy was going to love, felt equally lovely!

"Best bachelorette party... ever!" Exclaimed Sissi when they were inside and had shut the doors. "Thank you so much for this!" The only other bachelorette party Aelita had ever been to was Yumi's, and it was a trip to an international martial arts workshop. While she did like learning a few moves and self defense tricks, she had to admit that she preferred the spa and hoped that her own party would be equally enjoyable!

The occupants of the car fell into a relaxed silence as Yumi started driving back to her and Ulrich's place.

* * *

After Ulrich parked the car, the guys exited with a lot of groaning from soreness.

"I'll admit it," said Jeremy once they started walking, "today was fun, but how about you guys make my party a little less physically demanding!"

"Sure thing, Einstein," replied Ulrich. When he opened the door to his apartment, he sniffed the air as a delicious aroma wafted through. "Mmmm, I forgot that Yumi was making kabayaki! You guys are in for a real treat!" With neither one of them ever having heard of the dish, Odd and Jeremy exchanged confused glances.

"What's kabayaki?" asked Jeremy. Ulrich flashed a knowing grin.

"It's kinda like an eel-kabab with a sort of salty-sweet glaze," he excitedly informed his friends.

"You've started eating some really weird stuff since you and Yumi got hitched..." Odd remarked with his nose all scrunched up earning him a light smack upside the head.

"Hey! That's my wife's cooking you're dissing!" Jeremy chuckled but said nothing as he and Odd walked through the door, with the short man grumbling and rubbing where he got hit.

His grumbling was short lived though as he quickly found Sissi sitting on the couch in the front room and his face split into a huge grin. He hurried over and attempted to hug her, but she put her hand out and stopped him at arms length.

"Uh uh! You get a quick kiss, but that's it until you take a shower, mister Della Robbia!" The small man looked down at all the dust and grime he was covered with.

"Uhh... fair enough." he leaned over and gave his almost-wife a quick peck. "What are you doing alone out here though?"

"I was told that I shouldn't be cooking this close to our wedding and was kicked out of the kitchen. I wasn't gonna argue!" Odd grinned widely at the mention of the wedding and started to lean forward for another kiss, but was rebuffed again. "Shower. Now. You smell!" The short blond sighed dramatically.

"Tough love." He grabbed the bag of clean clothes that he brought with him and headed for the bathroom with Sissi chuckling after him while shaking her head. When he had left, she turned to address the other guys, who were also laughing.

"Hey, quit laughing because you guys are next!"

"That's fine with me! I can't wait to get clean!" Laughed Jeremy.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ulrich. "I'm gonna go say 'hi' to Yumi now though." He left for the kitchen and found his wife mixing the contents of a medium saucepan with Aelita looking over her shoulder.

"Hey honey, we're back and that smells amazing!" Yumi turned and smiled at her husband's compliment as Jeremy peered around the large man and his mouth fell open slightly for a moment when he saw his fiance. Aelita also turned away from the stove and beamed at Jeremy when she saw his surprise at her new look morph into a wide grin.

"You look amazing..." Aelita glanced away coyly and ran her fingers through her hair once, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to resist doing the same later and looked forward to it!

"I thought you would like it."

"You two are sickeningly cute, you know that!" Exclaimed Yumi, bringing the two geniuses back to reality and causing them to blush.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need an insulin shot now," teased Ulrich, making their faces glow even brighter.

"Yumi's teaching me how to make unadon," blurted out the pink haired young woman, trying to divert the conversation, but Ulrich wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet.

"You two have been together for seven years and we can still make you blush, I'd say that's pretty good!"

"That's enough sweetheart, we've had our fun," Yumi lightly scolded, then she went back to attending the stove.

"Umm..." said Jeremy when his embarrassment died down a little. "What's unadon? Ulrich said that you were making kabayaki."

"Unadon is kabayaki served over rice," the Japanese woman replied without looking away from her work.

"Oh."

"After Ulrich proposed, my mom insisted that I learn how to cook," Yumi explained.

"I always liked her mom's cooking too, so I'm not complaining!" Added Ulrich.

"Hey, shower's free!" shouted Sissi from the other room.

"You can go next," Ulrich offered Jeremy, who left the kitchen. Entering the next room, he saw Odd snuggling up to a very happy Sissi. He smiled for a moment at the couple's affection, but when they started gently making out he decided that he'd seen enough and finished the trip to the bathroom.

After him and Ulrich finished getting cleaned up it was time for dinner. The group told each other about their respective outings, and laughed at the exaggerations in Odd's retelling of his own exploits until it was late. Odd and Sissi left for their apartment, but Jeremy and Aelita stayed as Ulrich and Yumi had offered them the pull-out bed for them to sleep on to help them save money. After Ulrich and Yumi went to bed, Jeremy and Aelita settled into the slightly uncomfortable bed.

"You seemed like you had a good time today," said Aelita as they cuddled together.

"I'll be pretty sore tomorrow, but surprisingly enough I did." the blond genius replied. "It seemed like you did too." He started running his fingers through his fiance's hair, just like she knew he would.

"Mmm hmm, that feels nice," she cooed. "Goodnight Jeremy, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Aelita."

Within minutes, they were asleep.


	5. Differing Parties

_Mid April_

_Differing Parties_

Aelita sat in the waiting room with Yumi and Sissi in anxious excitement. While Yumi assured her that she was in for the time of her life, the full day treatment package that her and Aelita agreed upon for Sissi's day out was a significant expense on a research assistant's salary. She also felt bad knowing that Jeremy was likely going to be returning from his outing with Ulrich and Odd tired and sore, whereas she was supposed to be relaxed and rejuvenated. Still, they had budgeted accordingly, and Jeremy had insisted that he would be fine.

"Hello, you must be the party for Yumi Stern," greeted a small woman wearing an outfit similar to Yumi's original Lyoko attire. The three friends all stood up.

"Yes, that's us," replied Yumi and the woman smiled.

"Follow me please."

* * *

"Stop worrying Jeremy, you're gonna have fun, I promise," assured Ulrich while the three guys were on the way to the paintball arena.

"I'm not worrying!" The tall blond retorted.

"Of course you're not, you've only been fidgeting since we sat down in the car from excitement, right Einstein?" Teased Odd from the back seat, causing Jeremy to growl slightly. "Besides, you've got a full day to recover before you get to wear yourself out again on the dance floor!" While it wasn't one of Jeremy's favorite pastime, the thought of dancing with Aelita made him smile.

"That's better!" Exclaimed Ulrich. He pulled the car into the parking lot of what looked like an old warehouse. "Anyway, we're here!"

* * *

First on the agenda was a massage, and Aelita nervously laid face down on the table. The idea of being mostly disrobed in front of a complete stranger made her a little uncomfortable, even if it was another girl. She'd never even been fully undressed in front of Jeremy! Not yet anyway... She smiled and felt her cheeks warm slightly at the thought of their upcoming wedding. There was a rustling in the cloth partition that separated her area from Yumi and Sissi's tables which shook her from her thoughts and caused her earlier unease to return.

"Ms. Aelita Stones, are you ready?" Asked the masseuse. Aelita winced slightly. Her fraudulent surname had been bothering her more and more the closer she came to her wedding. She put it out of her mind and answered.

"Yes." The woman walked up next to Aelita and she heard some rustling at a nearby table.

"Have you ever had a massage before?"

"Uh uh," Aelita replied. She twitched in surprise as a warm liquid drizzled across her back.

"That's fine, just relax and let me know if you want me to adjust the pressure." Aelita gasped and her worries melted away almost instantly as the masseuse started working at her shoulders...

* * *

Jeremy ducked behind a large wooden spool that served as cover and the heard the _crack-crack-crack_ of paintballs splattering on the opposite side. He figured it was just his luck that he was already being shot at a mere ten seconds into the first round! There was a loud sliding sound next to him and he jerked his head to the left just in time to see Odd scrambling back to his feet after diving behind the spool. He was somehow already covered in dirt and dust which he attempted to quickly brush off. His hands weren't any cleaner than his clothes, so he wasn't very successful.

"Alright, if we take that tower," the short blond gestured to an elevated wooden fort of dubious structural integrity about twelve meters in front of them, "then that'll give us a commanding view of the entire arena!" Looking at its location and how well it would protect any inhabitants, Jeremy agreed with his friend's assessment. Unfortunately, there was one problem...

"How do we get there without getting shot?" Jeremy asked frantically. Odd grinned wide enough to be visible through the tiny slits in his mask.

"I'll provide cover fire while you make a break for it!"

"What!?" The genius exclaimed.

"And when you get there, you can provide cover fire for me!"

"Argh, ok!" Grumbled Jeremy, and he got ready to run.

"Ready... GO!" Signaled Odd and Jeremy took off as fast as his legs would carry him! At first he heard the _fwap-fwap-fwap_ of Odd's gun behind him, but after a moment, the rest of the world melted away as adrenaline took over his system and he saw nothing but the fort that was rapidly approaching! He was halfway there, then three quarters, and with a feeling of elation, his foot hit the first of the stairs...

_Thud-thud-thud_

A sharp pain shot through Jeremy's shoulder, side, and thigh as he felt the sting of being hit, and the dismay of being out before firing a single shot. Raising his paintball gun over his head per the instructions for being out, he walked to the arena exit, now with a slight limp. On the way, he passed Odd.

"Sorry Einstein, I didn't see those guys over there." Jeremy just shrugged, knowing it wasn't really his scrappy friend's fault

Upon leaving the arena, Jeremy noticed that the amount of people on his team that were out far outnumbered the other team... he sighed and thought to himself that it was going to be a long day.

* * *

After the second treatment of the day, which was a body polish, Aelita couldn't help running her hands up and down her arms under her robe sleeves. She marveled at how soft her skin felt.

"Hi Aelita, feeling relaxed yet?" Asked Yumi when Aelita met back up with her and Sissi before their next treatment.

"Very, I wouldn't mind doing this more often!" Aelita replied happily.

"Yeah, this was a great idea Yumi, thanks for setting this up!" Added a very enthusiastic Sissi before wrapping her best friend in a big hug. "So, what next?" The tall woman asked after letting go. Aelita opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by one of the spa's employee's.

"Are you all ready for your salt soak and facials?" She asked. Sissi grinned widely, and her friend's eagerness made Aelita look forward to this next step as well.

"Yes, I think we are," Yumi replied, and when she saw the excitement on her friend's faces she started sporting her own self-satisfied smile.

* * *

Jeremy peeked above the crate he was using for cover just in time to see Ulrich make a zigzagging break for the flag that was in the center of the arena with Odd providing cover fire. The young genius knew that Ulrich was in excellent shape, but seeing the speed and agility he possessed in person was incredible! Ducking and weaving over, under, and occasionally through obstacles in the arena, he snatched the flag out of its holder and made a break for the home base. While watching, Jeremy saw a couple of guys poke out of cover and open fire on the large man. Bringing his own paintball gun to bear he peppered the area with the inaccurate weapon. One of the opponents ducked for cover, but the other one kept firing at Ulrich, managing to hit the athlete several times just before one of Jeremy's shots managed to connect.

Ulrich dropped the flag and walked to the arena's exit, and Odd bolted forward shooting his own suppressive fire from the hip in an attempt to finish what his large friend started. Jeremy knew that the small man hadn't seen the guy that had tagged out Ulrich, but when the opponent came out of cover again to shoot at Odd, Jeremy was ready for him. He pulled his trigger as rapidly as he could and moment's later the opposing team member raised his weapon over his head signaling that he'd been hit!

"YES!" The genius exclaimed as he pumped his fist in celebration just before he felt a couple of impacts on his chest. Raising his own weapon over his head, the genius started walking off the arena. Despite the stinging pain from being shot he couldn't help cracking a wide grin as he felt like he was finally getting the hand of this game. Odd could be seen crossing the threshold to their home base with the flag in hand, while Ulrich flashed Jeremy a thumbs-up for successfully covering his buddy allowing their team to win!

* * *

As Aelita was walking to the car with Sissi and Yumi, she had never felt more relaxed in her life! The skin on her hands and feet felt smoother than they'd ever been from the manicure and pedicure. Her hair, done up in a stylish pixie-bob that she thought looked really cute and Jeremy was going to love, felt equally lovely!

"Best bachelorette party... ever!" Exclaimed Sissi when they were inside and had shut the doors. "Thank you so much for this!" The only other bachelorette party Aelita had ever been to was Yumi's, and it was a trip to an international martial arts workshop. While she did like learning a few moves and self defense tricks, she had to admit that she preferred the spa and hoped that her own party would be equally enjoyable!

The occupants of the car fell into a relaxed silence as Yumi started driving back to her and Ulrich's place.

* * *

After Ulrich parked the car, the guys exited with a lot of groaning from soreness.

"I'll admit it," said Jeremy once they started walking, "today was fun, but how about you guys make my party a little less physically demanding!"

"Sure thing, Einstein," replied Ulrich. When he opened the door to his apartment, he sniffed the air as a delicious aroma wafted through. "Mmmm, I forgot that Yumi was making kabayaki! You guys are in for a real treat!" With neither one of them ever having heard of the dish, Odd and Jeremy exchanged confused glances.

"What's kabayaki?" asked Jeremy. Ulrich flashed a knowing grin.

"It's kinda like an eel-kabab with a sort of salty-sweet glaze," he excitedly informed his friends.

"You've started eating some really weird stuff since you and Yumi got hitched..." Odd remarked with his nose all scrunched up earning him a light smack upside the head.

"Hey! That's my wife's cooking you're dissing!" Jeremy chuckled but said nothing as he and Odd walked through the door, with the short man grumbling and rubbing where he got hit.

His grumbling was short lived though as he quickly found Sissi sitting on the couch in the front room and his face split into a huge grin. He hurried over and attempted to hug her, but she put her hand out and stopped him at arms length.

"Uh uh! You get a quick kiss, but that's it until you take a shower, mister Della Robbia!" The small man looked down at all the dust and grime he was covered with.

"Uhh... fair enough." he leaned over and gave his almost-wife a quick peck. "What are you doing alone out here though?"

"I was told that I shouldn't be cooking this close to our wedding and was kicked out of the kitchen. I wasn't gonna argue!" Odd grinned widely at the mention of the wedding and started to lean forward for another kiss, but was rebuffed again. "Shower. Now. You smell!" The short blond sighed dramatically.

"Tough love." He grabbed the bag of clean clothes that he brought with him and headed for the bathroom with Sissi chuckling after him while shaking her head. When he had left, she turned to address the other guys, who were also laughing.

"Hey, quit laughing because you guys are next!"

"That's fine with me! I can't wait to get clean!" Laughed Jeremy.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ulrich. "I'm gonna go say 'hi' to Yumi now though." He left for the kitchen and found his wife mixing the contents of a medium saucepan with Aelita looking over her shoulder.

"Hey honey, we're back and that smells amazing!" Yumi turned and smiled at her husband's compliment as Jeremy peered around the large man and his mouth fell open slightly for a moment when he saw his fiance. Aelita also turned away from the stove and beamed at Jeremy when she saw his surprise at her new look morph into a wide grin.

"You look amazing..." Aelita glanced away coyly and ran her fingers through her hair once, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to resist doing the same later and looked forward to it!

"I thought you would like it."

"You two are sickeningly cute, you know that!" Exclaimed Yumi, bringing the two geniuses back to reality and causing them to blush.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need an insulin shot now," teased Ulrich, making their faces glow even brighter.

"Yumi's teaching me how to make unadon," blurted out the pink haired young woman, trying to divert the conversation, but Ulrich wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet.

"You two have been together for seven years and we can still make you blush, I'd say that's pretty good!"

"That's enough sweetheart, we've had our fun," Yumi lightly scolded, then she went back to attending the stove.

"Umm..." said Jeremy when his embarrassment died down a little. "What's unadon? Ulrich said that you were making kabayaki."

"Unadon is kabayaki served over rice," the Japanese woman replied without looking away from her work.

"Oh."

"After Ulrich proposed, my mom insisted that I learn how to cook," Yumi explained.

"I always liked her mom's cooking too, so I'm not complaining!" Added Ulrich.

"Hey, shower's free!" shouted Sissi from the other room.

"You can go next," Ulrich offered Jeremy, who left the kitchen. Entering the next room, he saw Odd snuggling up to a very happy Sissi. He smiled for a moment at the couple's affection, but when they started gently making out he decided that he'd seen enough and finished the trip to the bathroom.

After him and Ulrich finished getting cleaned up it was time for dinner. The group told each other about their respective outings, and laughed at the exaggerations in Odd's retelling of his own exploits until it was late. Odd and Sissi left for their apartment, but Jeremy and Aelita stayed as Ulrich and Yumi had offered them the pull-out bed for them to sleep on to help them save money. After Ulrich and Yumi went to bed, Jeremy and Aelita settled into the slightly uncomfortable bed.

"You seemed like you had a good time today," said Aelita as they cuddled together.

"I'll be pretty sore tomorrow, but surprisingly enough I did." the blond genius replied. "It seemed like you did too." He started running his fingers through his fiance's hair, just like she knew he would.

"Mmm hmm, that feels nice," she cooed. "Goodnight Jeremy, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Aelita."

Within minutes, they were asleep.


	6. Wedding for Friends

* * *

_Mid April_

_Wedding for Friends_

"Come on, good buddy, you've got nothing to be nervous about!" Ulrich assured his old roommate.

"W-what are you talking about? Odd the M-Magnificent does NOT get nervous!" The short man defended, though he wasn't fooling anyone.

Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd as well as Mr. Delmas and Mr. Della Robbia were getting ready for Odd and Sissi's wedding. With Odd being Italian, he wanted to get married in a Catholic church, and Sissi agreed because she thought it would be a beautiful place to get married. Currently, the guys in the wedding party were in an out-of-the-way room near the back of the church.

"Of course not, you've only been fidgeting for the last hour from excitement!" Taunted Jeremy, causing both him and Ulrich to laugh.

"Yeah, and you might want to double check your vest!" Teased the large man. Odd looked down and saw that he had misaligned the buttons on his dark purple waistcoat , causing his two friends to laugh harder.

"You're gonna be great kiddo, you're a Della Robbia after all!" Odd's father extolled as he playfully slapped his son on the back.

"OW!" He yelled, startling everyone in the room. "Paintball welt..." Ulrich chuckled for a moment, but then walked over and put his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Ok, I'm going to be straight with you, you're nervous and that's ok. But when those doors open and you see your beautiful bride coming down that aisle, all the nerves go away and you'll just happy to see her." The reassurance seemed to calm Odd down a bit because when Ulrich stepped away he was able to fix the buttons on his waistcoat with minimal fumbling.

"Mr. Della Robbia," Mr. Delmas spoke while walking up from the edge of the room and the other four men quieted down. "There's something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but I've never seemed to have the opportunity. Now seems as good a time as any, and better than most." Odd listened attentively. "If I'm being honest, when you and Elisabeth started seeing each other, I had some major concerns, both about your personal and academic history." The short blond gulped, his nerves starting to get the better of him again. "But since then I've seen first hand how much you love my daughter, and how happy you make her. The positive influence you've had on her life cannot be overstated, and you yourself have grown into a fine young man... one that I'll be proud to call my son in-law." The aging man's eyes started to moisten. "This might be slightly premature, but I don't think I'll get the opportunity to say this later..." He extended his hand toward Odd and smiled. "Welcome to the family." The short blond broke into a wide grin and enthusiastically shook the offered hand.

"Thanks, pops!" Mr. Delmas' smile faded slightly and he sighed out a chuckle.

"I guess there are some things that will never change after all..."

* * *

"And then we left him in the bathroom all night!" Laughed the Della Robbia sister (Elizabeth perhaps...?) as she finished telling her story, causing her sisters to all burst out into obnoxious giggling. While they clearly thought that tormenting Odd was _so_ funny, Aelita thought it was just cruel, and from the look on Sissi's face she thought so too. Even the presence of the girls' mother seemed to have no effect on their storytelling. If anything, she almost seemed to encourage it! Though as bad as the stories were, they were a welcome change from the 'advice' they had been giving beforehand that had both Aelita and Sissi's faces glowing fierce shades of bright red! Even Yumi, being a bit less sensitive due to being married with the private admission of being 'very satisfied' by her husband, couldn't stop blushing a bit from the other girls' 'suggestions.'

The pink-haired woman glanced toward the edge of the room and saw her Japanese friend sitting in a chair, head hanging low while she pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd given up trying to wrangle in the other girls and simply given up until it was time for the ceremony to start. Unable to help Sissi avoid her tormentors, Aelita walked over to her other friend in hopes that she could at least help shoulder some of her frustrations.

"Five female Odds really is a handful, isn't it..." she said after sitting.

"Yep..." Yumi replied without looking up.

"Well, at least Sissi was nice enough to make it so you didn't have to wear pink." Sissi's maid of honor looked down at the rest of the girls clad in the same shade as Aelita's hair, then down at her own purple dress. Sissi herself was in a beautiful gown of silvery white.

"Yeah... at least there's that.. I just can't wait for everything to start. I'm a _girl_ and I think there's too much estrogen in this room!" That caused Aelita to laugh loud enough to unfortunately get the attention of the Della Robbia's.

"Ooohhh! Does the newlywed have some advice for the bride?" One of the girls asked excitedly. Aelita thought it was Pauline, but there were too many identically dressed Della Robbia's for her to be sure!

"Pauline, I don't think there's any advice she can give that'll carry over to our little Odd-ball! Seriously, have you _seen_ her husband? That's one _fine_ hunk of man!" One of the other sisters said (Adele, maybe...?), confirming the identity of the first one. Yumi grit her teeth in a fit of jealousy and Aelita put a comforting hand on her friends shoulder.

"Any other day with anyone else I'd be all for you clobbering her, but this is Sissi's day," the pinkette whispered, but it didn't seem to help much. "And look at it this way, you're giving her a much needed reprieve!" The two girls glanced past the Della Robbia's to see a _very_ frazzled bride with a pleading look on her face. With a light sigh, Yumi unclenched her jaw, then smirked at the gaggle of women all looking at her.

"Yes, he is!" She declared confidently. "And he is all mine!"

"Details!" Exclaimed another Sister (probably Marie...)

"Nuh-uh!" Taunted Yumi, and while she held the attention of the Della Robbia sisters Aelita quietly slipped back over to Sissi.

"I'm sorry, that had to be frustrating and embarressing..." she whispered.

"You have no idea!" Sissi replied as she flashed Yumi grateful look and mouthed _thank you_. Yumi, in turn, shot her a look that said _you owe me._ To which Sissi nodded before turning back to Aelita. "Just be grateful that Jeremy is an only child!" The pink haired woman let out a small giggle.

"How are _you_ doing? Are you nervous?" She asked, to which Sissi snorted out a laugh.

"I'm getting married, of course I'm nervous!" Aelita's eyes widened sightly in concern and Sissi quickly added, "don't get me wrong, I'm also excited. It's not like I'm having second thoughts, it's just that it's so... big and important. You'll understand in a few months."

"Yeah, I'm sure I will." The two girls glanced at a clock on the wall and saw it was about time to go. "Well, shall we go rescue your maid of honor." Sissi took a deep breath.

"Yeah, we probably should."

* * *

The two sides of the bridal party, except for Odd who was already inside, gathered outside the church sanctuary and lined up in the order that had been rehearsed. When they met up, Jeremy kissed Aelita's cheek.

"You look beautiful," he whispered, causing her to grin.

"Thanks, Jeremy. You look very handsome yourself," she replied, taking a moment to appreciate the rare sight of in Jeremy in a tuxedo. Turning toward Sissi, she added wistfully, "just think, in a few months it's going to finally be us." It was Jeremy's turn to smile without taking his eyes off Aelita.

"Yeah, October 9th..." Aelita looked back and met her fiancé's eyes. "It's kinda crazy to think that we met almost ten years ago." Despite the people around, Jeremy couldn't help tilting her chin up and stealing a soft kiss, making Aelita giggle quietly while both of their cheeks took on a rosy shade. "Turning on that computer was the best decision of my life." The two geniuses continued beaming each other until the doors opened and they had to pay attention.

As the best man and matron of honor, Ulrich and Yumi went first, followed by Jeremy and Aelita, and last came all of Odd's sisters making for a pretty uneven gender split in the bridal party, though that never seemed to bother either Odd or Sissi. The sanctuary was lavishly decorated with pink and purple flowers, bows, and ribbons everywhere, yet still managed to remain tasteful. Approaching the end of the aisle, Jeremy and Aelita could see that Odd was still a bit nervous from the way he kept clenching and unclenching his hands. They gave him reassuring smiles just before they separated and took their places. Minutes later, it was time for Sissi to start making her way down. The large ornate double doors swung open and she started slowly walking down, arm in arm with her father. Jeremy only had eyes for Aelita, but even he had to admit that Sissi looked absolutely stunning! He glanced over toward Odd and saw that his nerves seemed to have disappeared because he was grinning like an idiot at the sight of his bride, just like Ulrich said he would. Soon enough though, everyone was in place and the ceremony was ready to begin.

Due to the service being a Catholic mass, half of the wedding was performed in Latin, so almost no one knew much of what was being said (except Yumi, being a linguist...)! Eventually though, the young couple had taken their vows.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you: man and wife!" The priest said excitedly. "You may kiss the bride!"

"Wait a second!" Shouted one of Odd's sisters (Louise...?) as she was walking up to the newly married couple with a purple step-stool she had somehow gotten from somewhere. She placed it in front of her brother and flashed him a thumbs up and a wink. There was stifled laughter throughout the church and Odd, Sissi, and the priest stared with mouths agape as the bridesmaid returned to her place. The newlyweds looked back to each other for a moment, then Odd shrugged and got on top of the stool, greatly reducing the height difference between himself and his bride, and causing another short outburst of laughter from those gathered. The priest cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again.

"If there aren't any further interruptions," he glared at Odd's sisters who were barely reigning in their giggles, "you may _now_ kiss the bride!"

The couple kissed and everybody cheered and clapped. A few seconds later Odd tried to break the kiss, but Sissi took his face in her hands and pulled him back for another one, eliciting another round of chuckling from the crowd! When they finally broke away from one another, they held their hands up like they just won a contest, both of them grinning widely while a chorus of cheers broke out. Without another word, Sissi scooped her small husband into her arms right off the stool, and started carrying him back up the aisle, the both of them laughing and smiling the whole way!

* * *

After dinner at the reception, everyone in the room quieted down to the sound of Yumi tapping her glass with a spoon.

"Hello everyone, I'm Sissi's matron of honor, Yumi Stern, and I've got a few things to say." She took a long look around the crowd for a little bit of added theatrics before turning to the newlywed couple with an amused smirk. "I hope you don't mind me airing out a little bit of dirty laundry..." Sissi snorted out a laugh.

"Of course not! I did at your wedding!" Yumi snickered, remembering her friend's toast at her wedding. Sissi had gotten the entire room howling with laughter with an entire stand-up routine about the role she played in getting her and Ulrich talking again while they were broke up.

"Alright then! I first met Sissi almost ten years ago. Sure, I'd seen her in passing before that, but she was a grade lower than me so we'd never had any reason to talk. The day we met was the day after her and Odd met for the first time. For those of you who didn't know us back then, it wasn't pretty... for the next couple of years, there were five of us that were pretty much inseparable: Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, me, and Aelita came about a year later." Yumi gestured to each person as she was mentioning them. "You might have noticed that Sissi was not one of the five. Rather, we were often at odds with each other, especially her and me, and her and Odd. Her and me because we had eyes for the same guy..." Yumi gestured back to Ulrich, "the guy _I_ ended up marrying!" She leered at the bride teasingly. "No hard feelings, right?" Sissi said nothing and glared at her matron of honor. Yumi's smile faded and she gulped as the two of them stared at each other in silence. Several awkward seconds later Sissi laughed loudly and slung her arm around her husband, pulling him into her side

"Yumi, you can have him! If you two hadn't started seeing each other I don't think I'd have ever ended up with _this_ little cutie!" There was a ripple of laughter throughout the reception hall and Sissi took a moment to kiss her new husband. Yumi scowled at her for a second before laughing along with the crowd while shaking her head for being fooled so easily.

"Odd, on the other hand," Yumi said when the the laughter died down, "he just seemed to enjoy tormenting her!"

"Don't sugarcoat it Yumi, I was a spoiled brat who deserved it!" Sissi interrupted with a giggle. A few laughs were heard again.

"I was trying to be nice! Anyway, even I don't know the whole story as to why, but at some point the two of them started being nicer to each other and over the next couple months they's somehow became best friends. It was around that time I'd been," Yumi put her fingers up to make air-quotes, "'persuaded' to invite Sissi to a pre-Christmas break sleepover that the five of us were going to be having at my place. I was convinced that it was going to be a mistake..." Yumi smiled at the bride. "But I couldn't have been more wrong. That was the night I saw the first signs that Odd and Sissi were starting to fall in love, even if they weren't ready to take that step yet. Later that same night she and I had a very revealing heart to heart and became friends ourselves. In the following months, the five of us became the six of us. Since then, we've only grown closer, and you can see that the same is even more true for them!" Yumi picked up and raised the glass of wine that was in front of her and smiled. "You guys are two of my best friends. May you have many long years of happiness together. To Odd and Sissi!" There was a round of cheers as everyone toasted the newlyweds, and when the room quieted again, Ulrich stood up.

"So... I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to top that!" There was a low rumble of laughter while Ulrich turned to Yumi. "And I'm not just saying that because you're my wife!" The laughter got louder but only for a minute. "Anyway, here goes! Odd was my roommate at Kadic Academy. The first time I met him, he told me that by the end of the day I wasn't going to be able to do without him. While I thought he was just really annoying, I'll be darned if that isn't exactly what happened!" The large man gestured to Sissi. "You were there too." The dark haired woman looked confused until Odd whispered into her ear. Her brow furrowed and her eyes darted back and forth for a second as she appeared to be sifting through her recovered memories until she nodded slightly when she must have found the right one. "While he never stopped being annoying..." Ulrich leered at his best friend, but a moment later his expression softened, "he turned out to be a very good friend that could absolutely be counted on when you needed him." He paused and looked around the room for a moment before continuing.

"A couple years later, just after I started dating Yumi he started leaving in the evenings. I asked him about it, but he would only ever say that he was visiting a friend. Most of the time I didn't mind because it gave me time to privately talk to my then-new girlfriend! A few weeks later, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to follow him. When I ended up seeing him and Sissi hugging before they went into her room to hang out, I was shocked! After all, as my wife mentioned earlier they had been at each other's throats for years! Like an idiot I barged in demanding to know what was going on... turns out they were just innocently talking and joking like the good friends that they'd become, and they were rightfully pretty annoyed at me. Afterwards I felt awful, and that guilt _may_ have played a significant part in me 'persuading' Yumi to invite her to that sleepover that she mentioned earlier!" There was a light ripple of chuckling before Ulrich took a deep breath and cracked a wide grin and continued.

"Yumi did a good job of telling the rest of the story so I'm just going to finish with this," he turned toward the couple dramatically, "after you have kids, either leave the door open or keep it down whenever you have Chinese food. You wouldn't want them getting the wrong impression!" After a moment Jeremy and Aelita burst out into laughter when they realized what he meant, Odd and Sissi did the same about a second later while the rest of the room just stared at the hysterical young adults in confusion. Without even waiting for his friends to stop laughing, Ulrich raised a glass. "To the happy couple!"

Once dinner and the toasts were finished, Odd and Sissi had their 'first dances,' and afterwards the dance floor was opened up to everyone. While Jeremy and Aelita mostly stayed with each other, there were a few times that Jeremy danced with Yumi or Sissi, and sometimes Aelita danced with Ulrich or Odd. They only did fast dances with the others though. Aelita had discovered that she loved resting her head on Jeremy's chest while swaying back and forth to slow songs at Ulrich and Yumi's wedding. She took advantage of every opportunity to do so at this wedding.

* * *

Later on that evening, Odd and Sissi were saying their goodbyes and they saved Jeremy, Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi for last.

"Congratulations you two!" Exclaimed Yumi while giving the newlyweds both a hug.

"Yeah, we are very happy for you," added Aelita when it was her turn, hugging both of them in turn.

"Good luck, you two. It's still funny to sometimes think about how much you two couldn't stand each other!" Remarked Ulrich while giving Odd a handshake/bro-hug, causing Sissi to laugh.

"I know right!" She exclaimed.

"Best of luck," said Jeremy, "and we'll see you guys at the reunion!" With the reminder that it was going to be several months until they saw each other again, Sissi wrapped Jeremy in tight hug, and pulled Aelita in with it! Odd and Aelita hugged again after.

"See you later Einsteins!" Odd said while giving Jeremy a playful and affectionate punch in the arm. The short blond and his wife turned to each other with matching gleams in their eyes. "Right now theres something we need to go do!" As they turned and left Odd quietly said "now you don't have to worry about figuring out where to hide the body." Sissi snorted and laughed, as the other four young adults watched in confusion at what seemed to be an inside joke.

* * *

After the wedding, Jeremy and Aelita rode back to Ulrich and Yumi's apartment with them and were just crawling into bed.

"I hope our wedding is just as happy as Odd and Sissi's," said Aelita, snuggling under the covers. Jeremy grinned.

"It'll be happier..." he replied. Aelita looked over to her fiancé. "Because it'll be ours." She broke out her own wide smile for a moment, but then it fell and she sighed.

"Yeah, but tomorrow it's back to Boston, and back to the grind the next day..." Jeremy sighed as well.

"Yeah... Goodnight, Aelita."

"Goodnight, Jeremy."

The exhaustion of the day had the two of them out cold almost immediately.


	7. Work Life

_Mid May_

_Work Life_

"Medium house roast and medium hot chocolate!" Could be heard clearly over the light drone of the coffee shop. Jeremy approached the counter and picked up his and Aelita's drinks. "Enjoy the coffee Jeremy, and have a good day," the barista called out to the young genius while she waved to Aelita, who was holding a table and waved back.

"Thanks Amanda, you too," replied the young genius with a smile before heading back to his fiancé. When he arrived at the table, he sat down after handing off the hot chocolate to his waiting fiancé, who accepted it eagerly.

"Thank you, Jeremy." Aelita took a sip of the sweet beverage and grinned widely. The two of them spent the next little while enjoying their drinks while going over some minor details in their wedding plans. Eventually though, it was time for them to go head out.

"Bye Aelita, have a good day at work," said Jeremy before they left.

"Thanks Jeremy, you too." The tall blond looked at his fiancé skeptically. "At least try to have a good day," Aelita encouraged, eliciting a sigh from Jeremy.

"I'll try..." Aelita kissed his cheek and they went their separate ways.

* * *

"Belpois! Have you re-calibrated that ECG simulator yet!?" Shouted a man from behind Jeremy, causing the young genius to scowl. Forcing a neutral expression to his face, he turned around to address a tall, gaunt man in a too-big lab coat and thinning gray hair... his 'mentor.'

"Yes, Dr. Lowell. I also made sure..."

"Good, and it had better be done right!" The older man stormed off and Jeremy glared at the back of his receding head.

"You've only got another two months, Jeremy." Jeremy sighed and turned around to see the small, wiry frame of Paul Lantz, one of the other tech's leaning against the wall. "The way I see it, you're lucky... I've still got over a year left with the jerk!" The tall blond cracked a slight grin.

"Hey, I did my time! Besides, we both signed up for it." He joked.

"Dr. Henry Lowell may be at the top of his field, but if I knew he was like this I'd have made sure to look elsewhere!" The two techs laughed. "Besides, we all know you could run this lab. I think he's extra hard on you because he sees you as a threat."

"Thanks for that, but as soon as I get my PhD, I'm outta here!" Jeremy said with a chuckle.

"Take me with you... please!" Paul said with a pout. His mop of brunette hair and the way he widened his brown eyes strongly reminded Jeremy of a puppy.

"Ok, ok, fine! If I can, I will. Just stop looking at me like that!" The tech's face brightened up for a moment.

"BELPOIS!" Dr Lowell's voice was heard from across the lab making Jeremy groan.

"I guess I see what Dr. Grouchy wants me to calibrate now..."

* * *

"Aelita!" The pink haired young woman turned her head toward the excited voice just in time to see her mentor Dr. Aditi Singh, a small, middle aged Indian woman with brown hair and eyes, sliding to a stop.

"What is it Dr. Singh?" Asked Aelita. Dr. Singh took a moment to catch her breath.

"After two years of requisition, and four months of assembly and setbacks, the computer is finally ready!" Aelita turned her body and full attention toward the speaker.

"You mean the quantum supercomputer, right?" The young genius asked excitedly.

"Yes!" The doctor replied with flourish. "We go check it out!" Aelita turned back to the computer console she was working at.

"Yeah! Let me just..."

"You do that later, we go now!" The energetic woman wrapped her arm around Aelita's shoulders and started dragging her away and down the hall. After a short moment of protest, Aelita laughed and followed her mentor.

A few minutes later the two women walked out of the elevator and into the facility's basement.

"Ready?" Asked Dr. Singh, similar to a child showing off a new toy.

"Uh huh!" Aelita exclaimed with a grin and The older woman opened the door and passed through with her protege in tow.

The quantum supercomputer was a large mass of complicated wires, lights, tanks, and other associated hardware. While visually it looked nothing like her fathers, knowing that she finally had easy access to a machine with similar capabilities felt rather surreal to Aelita. The pink haired young woman walked up to the control console and gently placed her hand on top of the display monitor.

"May I?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes, but you break, you buy!" The Indian woman exclaimed with a chuckle.

After fetching a nearby stool, Aelita started rapidly typing in the code for a program to simulate relatively simple Hydrogen Wave Functions with Dr. Singh watching over her shoulder. After around fifteen minutes of programming, she took a minute to look over her work.

"Ok, Finished," she said with a satisfied grin.

"I'm always impressed at how good you at code," replied her mentor.

"Thanks Dr. Singh, I'm going to start now." Aelita booted up the program, and at first it ran flawlessly, and faster than any computer she's ever seen besides her father's. Unfortunately, after a few minutes, a red error flashed on the screen and the program crashed! "What happened!" she exclaimed. "It couldn't have been my program!" Dr. Singh chuckled and pointed out a lit red indicator on a nearby control panel labeled: _Maximum Decoherence Limit_.

"Looks like it still needs some calibrating. That ok," said Dr Singh, making Aelita frown. While she knew her father had a lot more time to work on his supercomputer, it seemed like it was a lot more stable of a machine. Sighing, she realized that there was still a lot of work to be done before she was anywhere near being able to replicate the work of Waldo Schaeffer. For the rest of the day, she and her mentor spent the rest of the day calibrating qubit entanglement arrays, and testing the associated vacuum chambers.

* * *

After work, Jeremy and Aelita happened to arrive at their recently leased apartment at the same time. While they smiled upon seeing each other, they could each tell that the other didn't have a good day.

"Hi Jeremy, you look like you've had quite the day..." Jeremy walked up and kissed her cheek.

"Dr. Lowell was in rare form today..." Aelita groaned as the two of them walked into their front room. She met the man at a couple of Jeremy's work functions, and he wasn't any more charming there than at work. "It's alright. Not much longer then I can leave! How about you? You look like you've had a day yourself..." he added before flopping down on their second-hand couch and putting his feet up on one of the many unpacked boxes littering the floor. Aelita sat down next to him and snuggled into his side.

"The assembly of the quantum supercomputer was finally completed today." Jeremy's face lit up.

"That's amazing!" When he saw that his fiance didn't seem quite so enthusiastic, his excitement fell away. "That's good... right?"

"Yeah, it is," Aelita replied with a sigh. "I was really looking forward to finally being able to run some real tests here, but it needs constant calibration to continue functioning! It seems to have a comparable level of processing power as my father's but in terms of stability, Daddy's makes this one look like a prototype in testing!"

"Really..." groaned Jeremy. "It looks your father wasn't just ahead of his time, but ours as well."

"Uh huh."

The two of them cuddled on the couch for another few minutes, but soon they got up to prepare dinner. Though their days were frustrating and/or disappointing, spending time cooking together had them feeling better by the time their meal was ready, and they were able to enjoy the rest of the evening together.


	8. Stolen Glances

_Early June_

_Stolen glances_

"I'm home!" Announced Aelita, walking through the front door.

"In here Aelita!" Jeremy called from the kitchen. The pink-haired woman removed her shoes and headed over to where her fiancé was cooking something that smelled delicious!

"Mmmm, that smells wonderful. Is that the chicken fricassee you've been talking about making?" The blond man nodded and backed away from the stove to let Aelita sniff at the delicious aroma of onions and other vegetables sautéing amongst chicken thighs. "You're the best, Jeremy!" She stood on her toes for a moment and kissed his cheek, making him smile. "I'll do clean-up today."

"Thanks, Aelita."

Deciding to get into more comfortable clothes, Aelita headed to the bedroom.

"You know that qubit predictability algorithm that we programmed based off the one from my father's computer?" She called out as she removed her socks.

"Yeah, did you try it out today?" He replied.

"Uh huh! It worked even better than our estimates predicted!"

"That's great Aelita!" Jeremy called from the kitchen.

"We've at least doubled the possible length of the entanglement arrays, so now we finally have enough processing power and storage capacity to run the virtualization tests we've been simulating for all this time!" Aelita exclaimed excitedly just before pulling the red blouse she wore to work over her head with her back to the door. When it was no longer obstructing her view, in the mirror she saw Jeremy walk up to the open doorway and freeze, his cheeks taking on a rosy hue. Instead of leaving, he smiled slightly and Aelita felt her heart start to race from his staring at her fully exposed back and shoulders. Jeremy happened to glance toward the mirror after a few seconds and their eyes locked. He'd been found out and knew it. His eyes shot wide open, his already pink face turned a furious shade of crimson, and he immediately hurried back to the kitchen.

When Aelita heard Jeremy working on dinner again she broke into a sheepish, but very wide grin. Due to a very traditional upbringing, Jeremy had expressed early on in their relationship that he wanted to save a certain measure of intimacy for marriage, and since it was important to him Aelita agreed to it. After they moved into their small apartment together though, she'd occasionally noticed him stealing glances at her in various states of... undress. It didn't seem like he ever put himself in that situation on purpose, but he'd always smile for a few seconds, then he'd blush horridly and leave quickly as if feeling guilty, just like he'd done moments before. While she was never really angry about it, the first couple of times it happened, Aelita felt extremely embarrassed. Lately though, his lingering gaze had been making her feel something completely different... excitement. This time was the first time Jeremy knew he'd been caught and Aelita decided to have some fun!

"I'm going to set the table," She announced nonchalantly when she made it back to the kitchen. Jeremy didn't look at her while he measured out the cream to put in their dinner. Aelita moved next to him in order to get a couple plates from the cupboard next to the stove, and noticed that from what she could see of his face that it was still red, and only got darker as she moved closer! It was all she could do to keep from breaking out into a fit of giggles!

Once in the dining room and out of Jeremy's view, her grin spanned from ear to ear while she put out place settings and sat down to wait for her fiancé with the food.

The first several minutes of the meal were spent in silence that seemed extremely awkward for Jeremy, but Aelita was barely managing to stifle her laughter!

"So how was Dr. Grumpy today?" The young woman managed to ask with a straight face. Jeremy glanced up and blushed yet again before looking down, mumbling a reply that she didn't quite understand. "What was that?" She asked.

"I didn't have to deal with him much today..." he muttered a little louder.

"That's good," Aelita replied. "That means you could work on your scanners for a bit, right?" Jeremy grunted an acknowledgment, and Aelita thought that trying to engage in further conversation might have just been a little _too_ mean, so she let the table fall back into silence once more until they were done eating.

After dinner, Aelita cleaned up like she offered earlier while she could hear Jeremy on the couch, typing away at his laptop. Once finished with the dishes, she walked back out to the front room, and upon seeing the troubled look on her fiancé's face, she realized her joke had gone far enough, and it was time to come clean. When she plopped down next to him, the tapping on the computer stopped immediately, Jeremy's shoulders visibly tensed up, and there was only silence for the next several seconds. Aelita felt her face grow warm and her heart started to race from the conversation they were about to have.

"Jeremy, about earlier..."

"Aelita, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." he blurted out, but She cut him off.

"Jeremy, stop!" He kept staring straight forward and Aelita could have sworn that his face was nearly purple! "Please look at me." After a few seconds he reluctantly did as she asked. "I'm not mad at you," she reassured gently, though it didn't seem to have much effect. "But just make sure that you never, _ever_..." she paused for just one more teasing moment, "apologize for that again." The troubled, guilty look that was on his face faded away and was replaced with confusion.

"... What...? he asked. Aelita giggled at his bewilderment just before she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. Jeremy froze for a moment, but Aelita didn't break it off until until the tension melted from his shoulders and he was kissing her back! She figured that after making him squirm all evening, he deserved it. After the kiss, Aelita smiled warmly at her fiancé, though since he still looked pretty baffled she figured she was going to have to explain herself.

"Why should I be upset that the man I'm about to marry likes looking at me?" She asked. Her face started to heat up again, and the confusion in Jeremy's left as well.

"I guess when you put it that way, it doesn't make much sense."

"You're right, it doesn't. I adore you Jeremy, and you've always been a perfect gentleman." Aelita snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him into a close hug. "But go ahead and take your peeks," she said quietly into his ear, and she could feel Jeremy's heart start pounding. Her already warm cheeks started burning up even more as she continued. "Enjoy it... I know I do." Her own heart felt like it was about to beat right out of her chest, and and her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I know that we agreed to wait, and I still intent to... but maybe we could have a little teaser to tide us over until that wait is over..."

Jeremy's whole body tightened up, and the seconds ticked by as Aelita held her breath, wondering if she'd pushed it too far. After several tense moments though, Jeremy relaxed and Aelita let out her breath... and gasped when she felt his lips on her neck...


	9. Progress

_Late June_

_Progress_

Jeremy rubbed his temples as he tried to tackle the problem in front of him yet again. Recently, he'd finally finished building a device that was capable of emitting and picking up most of the types of waves on the electromagnetic spectrum and sound frequencies possible, which was practically a technological breakthrough in itselt! Because of that, he was now able to finally move on to the experimental portion of his research, but so far it had been very slow going.

His stomach growled, causing the young genius to sigh. Dr. Lowell was out of the office for the day, which meant he had the whole day to work on his own projects. Opportunities like that were few and far between and while he knew that Aelita wouldn't be happy about him skipping meals again, it he didn't want to waste it. He was pulled out of his thoughts when everything suddenly when dark!

"Guess who!" Exclaimed a familiar woman's voice that instantly brightened up his day!

"Hmm..." the young genius hummed, tapping his finger to his lips as though he was deep in thought. "I'm thinking maybe Yumi or Sissi..." he teased, and suddenly he could see again.

"You're so silly sometimes!" Aelita exclaimed as she walked out from behind Jeremy. He stood up and pulled his fiancé into a hug.

"What are you doing here, shouldn't you be at work?" The young man asked when they separated.

"It's lunch time!" Aelita put on a fake pout. "Here I was, thinking you'd be happy to see me!"

"I _am_ happy to see you, but your lab is all the way across town..." Aelita dropped the pout and nibbled her bottom lip excitedly.

"Well, I had something important to tell you, and I wanted to do it in person!"

"Ok," replied Jeremy, chuckling at his pink-haired fiancé's obvious excitement. "So, what is it?"

"This morning, we managed to successfully virtualize and rematerialize one microliter of water!" Jeremy's eyes shot open and he excitedly took Aelita's hands.

"That's amazing!"

"I know!" Aelita sprang to her toes and gave Jeremy a quick kiss, then hugged him tightly in her excitement.

"So I take it that this must be Aelita!" The couple broke apart quickly with a fair bit of blushing as Jeremy's coworker, Paul walked up laughing.

"It's nice to meet you Paul," replied Aelita, regaining her composure.

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to get lunch, but it seems you've already got company!" He left and Aelita turned toward her soon-to-be husband.

"Shall we go get something too?" Jeremy sighed and braced himself.

"Umm... I wasn't planning on taking a lunch break today..."

"Jeremy," Aelita lightly scolded, "you need to eat. It's not good for you to skip meals!"

"Dr. Lowell isn't here today so was going to take the chance to work straight through on my own projects..."

"This isn't life or death like when we were fighting XANA..." She shuddered at the memory of all his sleepless nights, skipped meals, and how worried he used to make her. She let out a big sigh, but then her face brightened up as she got an idea. "Ok, how about this: if I can get Dr. Singh to give me a pass for the rest of the afternoon, we go to lunch together, and afterwards I help you here?"

"I couldn't ask you to do that!" Jeremy protested.

"I know, that's why I'm offering!" Aelita countered with a giggle.

"But you just had your big breakthrough!"

"I'm starting to think you don't want me to stay!" Aelita teased.

"That's not it..." Jeremy muttered. Aelita reached out and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"It'll be fine. Our support computers are going to be compiling the data from the successful experiment for the rest of the afternoon, and we pushed the quantum computer to the limit of it's capabilities so it needs some time to cool down anyway." reached out and rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. "Besides, it looks like what you're doing now is right in my field of study!" She smiled sweetly and gestured to Jeremy's waveform emitter. He knew that she was right, that her assistance would certainly help, but that wasn't the only thing that convinced him.

"Ok, Aelita. I've missed working with you like this anyway!"

"Me too, I'll call Dr. Singh!" She exclaimed with a giggle and pulled her phone out. She stepped away for a few minutes, but was back soon with a huge grin on her face! "So, do they have anything good at the cafeteria?" she asked teasingly.

About ten minutes later, the two geniuses were sitting down somewhat enjoying the ravioli that was the lunch special for the day. Aelita excitedly told Jeremy about the modifications to the programming that allowed the morning's success, and the further tests that her and her mentor had planned. While she was telling about it, Jeremy couldn't help beaming at his fiance proudly. When she was done, Jeremy explained the difficulties that he'd been having with his own endeavors, and the table took on a much more frustrated mood. Soon enough though, it was time to get back to work.

* * *

"Ok Aelita, due to company policy, you can't actually touch anything or else I'll get in big trouble," Jeremy said once they got back to the lab. "But I'm willing to try any idea's you've got!"

"I think we can make that work,' the young woman assured Jeremy with a smile, and the two of them got to work!

* * *

"I'm really glad you came, Aelita," said Jeremy when the work day was coming to a close. "We got more done than I expected, and _much_ less than I would have ever been able to do on my own!"

"I'm glad too. We make a good team," she replied with a grin. "I wish we could work together more often." Jeremy stood up and kissed her forehead.

"Me too. Let's go home," Jeremy replied with a smile.

"Hey Jeremy, could you come here for a minute?" Called Paul from across the lab.

"Go on ahead, Aelita. I'll catch up in a minute." The couple smiled at each other for a moment before Aelita left to go wait in the lobby, and Jeremy headed over to go see his coworker.

"What's up Paul?" Asked Jeremy, when he made it across the lab. At first the small man just leered at him.

"How on earth did you manage to snag a girl like that?" He asked with a smirk.

"We originally met online and we just kinda clicked," Jeremy replied coolly. It was his usual placation when asked about how him and Aelita met, and it was true enough.

"Well, you're a very lucky guy! Seriously, she's got looks, brains, personality, the whole package... She's totally out of your league!" Paul exclaimed, causing Jeremy to chuckle.

"Maybe..."

"Definitely, you're one lucky guy! I've got one more question," Jeremy cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Does she have a sister?" The young genius laughed out loud.

"No, she doesn't!"

"Aww, that's too bad. You should get going." Jeremy clocked out and went out to go meet his fiance.

* * *

"That Paul guy seems to be really nice," said Aelita, while the two of them sat down at the bus stop. Jeremy laughed.

"Yeah, you certainly made an impression!" Aelita looked up at her fiance, waiting for him to explain. "He said you're out of my league," he admitted sheepishly and Aelita's face fell, causing Jeremy's to fall as well.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Sometimes..." Aelita took a breath to counter, but Jeremy continued, "but I know that you love me anyway." While it was much better that it once was, once in a while Jeremy's lack of self confidence would rear it's ugly head. Aelita hated it, especially when she knew first-hand just how wonderful a man her fiance was. She let out her breath and thought for a moment how to use the foothold he had given her. Suddenly she had an idea, one that made her cheeks warm considerably. Despite their public location, she pulled his face to hers, kissing him deeply.

"Don't ever forget that," she said after pulling away just a little bit, keeping her face close to his. "You are an amazing person. You're sweet, incredibly smart, and always putting others before yourself..." Aelita leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "It helps that I think you're very handsome too!" Jeremy cheeks, which had already been flushed from the public affection, darkened even more. Adding credibility to her last claim, he'd noticed Aelita stealing glances of her own in the last couple weeks after she'd caught him 'peeking.' She made no attempt to hide it, and from the smile that would always sprout on her face clearly indicated that she enjoyed looking. She kissed his cheek before pulling her face away, then continued in a more normal tone of voice, "no one is out of your league, Jeremy. I know because I'm the lucky girl that gets to keep you!"

"Thanks, Aelita. You're incredible." He said with a grin that Aelita returned.

"And don't you ever forget that either!" Aelita exclaimed, giggling while she tapped the tip of Jeremy's nose lightly with her finger, eliciting a giggle from both of them.

The bus they had been waiting for just turned around the corner, prompting the young couple to stand up and get ready to board. The trip home was a happy one, with most of the time being spent talking about dinner for the evening.


	10. Dissertation Defense

_Early July_

_Dissertation Defense_

Aelita sat, waiting nervously in a hallway looking at an innocuous looking door. The door itself wasn't important, but on the other side was the panel of experts in quantum mechanics that would determine whether or not she would be qualified to finally get her PhD... and it was to those people whom she would be defending her dissertation! Jeremy had gone through his dissertation defense a few days prior, and he said that it wasn't too bad... however, he had a completely different group of 'experts,' in a completely different field! Without warning the door opened, startling the young woman. A middle aged lady with auburn hair tied back in a bun poked her head out and looked at Aelita.

"Aelita Stones?" The woman asked.

"Y-yes, that's me," stammered Aelita, standing up.

"We're ready for you now." The young woman took a deep breath and walked into the room.

The woman took a seat at a table that was set up. Also seated was a middle aged, dark skinned man in a gray business suit; and an elderly bespectacled gentleman in brown slacks and waistcoat. The woman and middle aged man nonchalantly watched the young woman as she walked in the room, but the older man's eyes shot wide open the moment he saw her. Aelita gulped and froze when their eyes locked and neither one of them moved. She thought that there might be something familiar about the man, and from the way he kept staring, he clearly thought he recognized her somehow!

"Ms. Stones, correct?" The other woman called out, breaking the silence and startling both Aelita and the older man.

"Yes ma'am," she replied after taking a brief moment to regain her composure.

"I am Dr. Annette Simmons, and these are my associates: Dr. Darnell Washington, and Dr. Felix Schmidt," she introduced, gesturing to first the middle aged man, then the man who had been staring. "First, I'd like to say that we are very... intrigued by your interesting direction of research..."

"May I inquire as to what influenced your decision to dedicate your pursuit of such an unusual and... complicated study?" Dr. Schmidt interrupted softly, staring at Aelita once more. His speech held traces of a German accent, and the intensity that his gaze raised the hair on the back of the her neck.

"I've always had a fascination with some of the ideas presented in science fiction, and I thought that if this particular idea was able to become reality, then the applications could be nearly endless."

"If you'll forgive me," began Dr. Washington, speaking for the first time, "I must admit that even after thoroughly evaluating your dissertation, I'm still a bit skeptical of the whole thing."

"Why shouldn't it be possible," rebutted Dr. Schmidt, his defense catching Aelita completely off guard. "I've seen very similar work before..." the old doctor trailed off and Aelita gulped nervously. Dr. Simmons turned to her colleague in surprise.

"Are you suggesting stolen research? If so, why did you not bring this up sooner." Aelita grit her teeth. Her father may have pioneered and even perfected the virtualization technology, but she and Jeremy had never figured out a way to bring proper tools and diagnostics equipment to the lab without arousing suspicion. Because of that, they had to redevelop and re-engineer the inner workings and mechanics from the programming alone. As such, her and Jeremy ended up needing to do almost all the research on their own, and to be accused of stealing made her angry!

"No, no. Nothing like that." The older man replied with a light chuckle. "It just looks very similar to the work being studied by my..." he paused and pursed his lips together for a moment. "By an old acquaintance a long time ago."

"May I ask who this old colleague was?" Aelita asked with her heart pounding in her chest, and the man heaved a long sigh.

"I apologize, but he disappeared, probably before you were born. Unfortunately, names escape me. Equations, on the other hand... I remember those forever... along with faces..." he trailed off again.

"Well, this is all very fascinating, but how about we get back to the matter at hand," spoke Dr. Washington, who was seeming to grow impatient. "The fact is that the digitization of matter simply isn't possible." Aelita put Dr. Schmidt's words out of her mind and refocused on defending her research!

"While you are correct in saying that _digitizing_ matter is impossible, _digital_ implies the use of traditional computing hardware. _Virtualization_ however, is possible with the use of quantum technology. It hasn't been published yet, but I have recently submitted an article for peer review with the results of an experiment performed two weeks ago by my mentor Dr. Aditi Singh and myself."

"And what was this experiment?" Asked Dr. Simmons, genuinely curious.

"Using the quantum supercomputer at the institute, we successfully virtualized a microliter of water, then successfully rematerialized it to it's full molecular integrity.." Aelita replied, doing her very best to keep the smugness out of the grin that sprouted on her face when the eyes of all three doctors shot wide open.

"Well... you've certainly captured my interest now..." murmured Dr. Washington after several seconds of silenced. His previously derisive attitude melted away almost instantly.

"The biggest limitation is that it takes a tremendous amount of power to virtualize even a small amount of matter." Aelita explained, mentally kicking herself for what felt like the millionth time since realizing that her father's machine had it's capabilities boosted by countless Return to the Past trips, something that the institute's computer would never get.

"So it is possible..." Whispered Dr. Schmidt, getting Aelita's attention. His stares made her shudder slightly. Even so, she would not be daunted.

"Yes, it is indeed possible, and with Quantum systems only getting more and more powerful..." She declared, intentionally leaving the statement open ended to spark their imaginations.

"Well, how about you tell us more about it?" Invited Dr. Simmons. Aelita took the offer and started discussing the minutiae of the experiment and of her research as a whole, mostly with Dr. Simmons and Dr. Washington. Dr. Schmidt didn't say much, which was just fine with Aelita because he made her uneasy every time he spoke.

* * *

"It was a great pleasure to meet you Miss Stones, and I am very much looking forward to seeing more of your work," said Dr. Simmons when their time was over.

"It was a privilege to meet with other scientists such as yourselves as well, and I thank you for the opportunity," replied Aelita. The three doctors stood up and Aelita shook their hands before she left the room. When she took Dr. Schmidt's hand, she held it for the minimum amount of time necessary to appease social etiquette, and then quickly left the room.

She arrived at home a little while later to the welcome sounds and smells of Jeremy making dinner. Hearing the door, he poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Hi, Aelita! How did it go?" He asked with an excited grin.

"The actual defense of my dissertation went quite well, but..." she trailed off, not entirely sure how to bring up the subject of Dr. Schmidt.

"But, what?" Asked Jeremy, his smile fading fast.

"Umm... I think one of the men on the panel thought he recognized me."

"What do you mean?"

"... Like from my old life." Jeremy's eyes widened. "I thought he might have looked familiar too."

"Oh," the young man groaned. He thought for a moment. "With your chronological age and your biological age being so far off from each other, it would be very difficult to prove anything," he reassured his fiance. Besides, that was over twenty years ago on the other side of the world."

"Yeah, you're probably right," she replied with a sigh.

"Would you like me to try to do some digging into this guy?" Aelita smiled at his offer.

"I appreciate it, but we've got enough on our plate right now with the wedding and all."

"Ok, Aelita. But if he starts coming around, I'm going to look into this. Deal?"

"Deal." Jeremy sniffed the air.

"AH! The croissants!" He rushed back into the kitchen to save the precious pastries. "Saved them!" He called out, eliciting a cheer and giggle from Aelita.

"And I want to hear the rest of how it went at dinner, ok!"

"Sure thing, Jeremy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I botched up either the dissertation defense, or made the pseudo-science too unbelievable, I apologize. I myself don't even have an associates degree. So, while I try to do my homework, I'll admit that I'm also doing a fair bit of guesswork and I hope it doesn't show too badly.


	11. Celebration!

_Late July_

_Celebration!_

"Congratulations _Doctor_ Belpois!" Exclaimed Aelita after approaching Jeremy amongst the hubbub of graduation.

"Congratulations to you too, _Doctor_ Aelita Stones!" Replied Jeremy excitedly. The two of them grinned at each other and wrapped each other in a quick hug.

"We should probably find my grandparents and your parents," said Aelita when the two separated.

"Yeah, you know they're going to want pictures and stuff," replied Jeremy. The young couple making their way through the crowd.

"We are so proud of you!" Exclaimed Michael shaking his son's hand then giving a hug to Aelita when the new graduates made it to their families.

"Yes, congratulations to the both of you," added Beatrix.

"I think it's time for some pictures!" Suggested Eloise, pulling a camera out of her purse. Jeremy smirked playfully at his fiancé in an 'I told you so' sort of way. "Ok, how about you two stand over here in front of the Hall entrance?" The young couple stood together as asked, and Jeremy put his arm around Aelita as they both proudly held up their diplomas.

_Click_

"How about a couple of just Jeremy..." Aelita took a step away, knowing it would be her turn next.

_Click_

"Your turn Aelita," Eloise directed as predicted, and the pink-haired graduate traded places with her fiance.

_Click_

"And Aelita, how about one with you and your grandparents." Neville and Beatrix walked over and flanked their granddaughter, grinning in amusement at Eloise's excitement.

_Click_

"You too, Jeremy. They're practically family to you too!" With a chuckle Jeremy took a spot next to Aelita between her grandparents.

_Click_

"And just for fun, how about one with Just Jeremy and the Hoppers," Aelita stepped out of the picture with a giggle at her almost-mother-in-law's antics.

_Click_

"Neville, could you take a picture of Michael and myself with Jeremy?" The elderly gentleman smiled and nodded as Jeremy's parents took the place of Aelita's grandparents.

_Click_

"Aelita, sweetie, come on in here!" Aelita did as she was asked, and smiled when Jeremy put his arm around her again.

_Click_

"And one with us and Aelita," Jeremy's mother gave him a gentle push and he stepped away.

_Click_

Eloise walked over to Neville and took the camera. "And one more with all of us." She turned around. "Excuse me," she called out to someone behind the rest of the group," could you get a picture of all of us?"

"Y-yes, of course," answered a familiar voice with a German accent and Aelita felt like she'd swallowed a big rock. Aelita gulped and turned around slowly to see Dr. Schmidt walk slowly to Mrs. Belpois. He turned to address the young woman.

"I-I was hoping I'd be able to see you here... Aelita." He looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it when he glanced around at the families gathered. Aelita forced a smile to her face.

"It's good to see you again Dr. Schmidt." She replied as calmly as she could.

"Oh, you two know each other?" Asked Michael, glancing between his near-daughter-in-law and the older professor.

"Dr. Schmidt was on the panel of my oral examination," replied Aelita, hoping the encounter wasn't going to last very long, and _really_ hoping that she wasn't going to have to introduce her grandparents... specifically their last name! Thankfully, Dr. Schmidt didn't seem too keen on talking with everyone else there either and he held up the camera given to him by Eloise.

"It seems that you're busy right now, so everybody in," he directed.

_Click_

He handed the camera back to Jeremy's mother and turned to Aelita.

"I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of your work, Aelita." With that he left. When he was gone, Aelita let out a sigh of relief.

"Was that the guy that you thought recognized you?" Asked Jeremy in a whisper.

"Yeah... I'm glad he didn't learn my grandparents' names." She shuddered slightly at how close she had come to possibly having her identity exposed.

"I think they're smarter than that. Still, do you think we should tell them?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." She turned toward her grandparents. "Umm... that guy just now..."

"He seemed like a decent fellow. A little jittery perhaps, but certainly nice enough," responded Beatrix.

"Well... at my dissertation defense, from the moment I walked in the door he couldn't stop looking at me like he recognized me."

"Hmm. Maybe he'd just seen you around somewhere before?" Suggested Michael.

"I don't think that's it. He said he'd seen similar work from an old acquaintance of his that disappeared before I was born," replied Aelita, "and I don't think meeting him here was a coincidence either."

"Waldo," murmured Beatrix.

"That's what we're thinking," confirmed Jeremy.

"Oh dear. Is there anything you want us to do?" Asked Eloise.

"Not really," answered Jeremy, shaking his head before turning to Aelita's family. "We mostly just wanted to let you two know. Knowing that we were with the parent's of Anthea Schaeffer would give Aelita away for sure!"

"We won't be in town for much longer, and then there should be much less risk of that," said Beatrix.

"All this makes me really glad that we're having the wedding in France..." mused Aelita.

"Me too. I think I should start digging up on Dr. Schmidt now..."

"I agree, thanks, Jeremy."

"And by digging you mean..." started Eloise before being interrupted by Aelita.

"Don't ask. Let's just say that Jeremy is very good at finding information not available to the general public..."

"Just... be careful," advised Michael.

"I will," assured Jeremy. Then he smiled. "I think that's probably enough worrying. Besides, we should probably head out now if we want to beat the crowds at the restaurant!" There was a murmur of agreement, and all six of them headed out to celebrate the end of school!


	12. Setbacks

_Early August_

_Setbacks_

Aelita hummed a little tune while she worked. She was calculating the parameters for the virtualization of a tuft of hair from a chimpanzee. She smiled slightly, remembering how excited Jeremy was when he first managed to materialize one of her own hairs.

"That's a nice melody," said Dr. Singh quietly, startling the young genius. "What's it from?" Getting over her surprise, Aelita opened her mouth to respond, but realized she couldn't place the song.

"I don't really know," she relied honestly. She thought for a few more seconds before she realized that it felt like another fragment of a lost memory. She sighed and made a mental note to talk to Jeremy about it. He was always willing to listen, and sometimes he could even help her coax more detail out of resurfacing memories... but not always.

"Well, it's lovely," the doctor responded absently. The two of them sat in their own thoughts for a minute before Aelita looked up and saw that Dr. Singh seemed to be troubled herself. Putting the thoughts of her memories aside, she turned her full attention to her mentor.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Aelita. The older scientist sighed.

"I just got back from a meeting with the director..." she trailed off and spent a moment fiddling with a bracelet while a pit started forming in Aelita's stomach. "There have been some budget cuts..."

"Oh no..." groaned Aelita

"One of the places the board of directors made cuts is our department..." the Indian woman started tearing up as Aelita's suspicions started to make her blood run cold. "They're laying you off!" She suddenly wailed and rushed forward and threw her arms around her pink-haired protege, who suddenly felt numb. Aelita stiffly hugged her back for several seconds before she pulled away and found a nearby chair and sat down, staring at the floor.

"I... I don't even know what to say..." she muttered when she finally found her voice.

"They're giving you a week, but if you need the rest of the day off you take it."

"I think I'll do that, Thank you," Aelita replied, still flabbergasted.

"If there's anything else I can do to help... letter of recommendation, anything, just ask!"

"Thank you... I think I'm going to go home," the young woman excused herself and left the lab.

The wait for the bus and subsequent ride went by in the blink of an eye. When she arrived at her and Jeremy's apartment she sat on the couch and started going over their finances in her head... and didn't like the numbers she was coming up with... she slouched and stayed there for the next couple hours until she heard the door opening.

Jeremy opened the door and no sooner than he walked in he found his fiance's arms wrapped around his waist and her face buried in his shirt. Having no idea what was going on, he pulled Aelita closer while she continued to squeeze him tightly.

A few minutes later, he walked her back enough to close the door behind them, and guided her to the couch and both of them sat down.

"What's wrong, Aelita?" Asked Jeremy when his fiance seemed to have calmed down a little.

"I'm getting laid off..."

"Uh oh."

"I've got just one more week at the institute." Jeremy took a deep breath. "I've been running the numbers, and without me working I don't know how we're going to make ends meet with all our wedding expenses, much less the Lyoko Warriors' reunion next month!" Aelita wailed with tears starting to form in her eyes, and was taken aback when Jeremy lit up slightly.

"I completely forgot!" Aelita looked at him sideways in complete surprise. "I meant to tell you yesterday. Now that I've got my Doctorate, I'm getting a promotion... and it comes with a raise!" Aelita gasped and held her breath while Jeremy continued. "A hefty one." Aelita let out her breath. She felt slightly relieved, but still apprehensive.

"That's good... that's very good... how hefty?" She asked slowly.

"About twenty five percent, that'll definitely help!" Jeremy replied with a proud grin. Aelita quickly ran the adjusted numbers through her head and smiled slightly.

"It'll be tight, but I think we'll be ok."

"Yeah, and there should be enough for the wedding expenses too!" Exclaimed Jeremy, but Aelita sighed.

"But not for the reunion..." Jeremy's face fell.

"No..." the young genius reached over and pulled his fiance close. "We'll be ok," he whispered, and she buried her face in his shirt again and allowed herself to be comforted by his scent for the next several minutes.

"You know how I came to bed late last night?" asked Jeremy, after the two of them had separated. Aelita nodded, prompting Jeremy to continue. "After I got some more work done, I decided to start digging into Dr. Schmidt." Aelita's eyes widened slightly.

"What did you find out?" She asked slowly. The look of apprehension on Jeremy's face, had her feeling very nervous.

"That there's no record of him beyond 26 years ago..." A pit grew in Aelita's stomach that had unfortunately started becoming familiar.

"That's around the same time my father went into hiding..." she trailed off.

"I know," confirmed Jeremy. "He must have changed his name, and with it being that far back there aren't any records in any online databases of what he changed it from." Aelita sighed.

"So there's a good chance that he knew my father then. They're both German, Physicists, and left their homes and went into hiding around the same time." Jeremy nodded. "But we don't know the connection between him and my father, if any."

"No, but he's squeaky clean. There isn't even a parking ticket to his name, so I've got the feeling that even if we shouldn't trust him, I don't think that he means any harm."

"You're probably right," responded Aelita, seeing the logic in Jeremy's words. Thank you for looking."

"You're welcome, Aelita." The young blond genius kissed he fiance's forehead. "I think I'll make dinner tonight," he offered. "You've had a bit of a rough day." Aelita smiled at his consideration.

"Thank you, Jeremy." The young man got up from the couch and had just started heading to the kitchen when Aelita remembered something.

"Jeremy," she called out softly and he turned around. "I think I remembered something."

"What was it?" He asked, not needing to ask to know what his fiance was referring to.

"It was a melody. I think it was something my father must have played for me when I was little."

"How about you hum a little bit of it," suggested Jeremy and Aelita started to sing the slow, sweet song that she had been at work. While she sang, Jeremy looked at her thoughtfully until she was done.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that wasn't of your father," he said, surprising Aelita.

"Why would you think that?" She asked.

"Because every time you get a memory of your father playing music, it's always a happy, jumpy tune. This one's different," explained Jeremy.

"You're right!" Gasped Aelita.

"I'd guess that this is a memory of your mother." No sooner had the words come out of her fiance's mouth, Aelita vividly recalled a memory of being gently rocked on her mother's lap. She sweetly hummed a quiet lullaby while running her fingers through her hair.

"You're right... it was my mom." Tears started forming in Aelita's eyes. Memories of her mother were extra special because they were much more rare than ones of her father. She got up and wrapped her arms appreciatively around Jeremy. "Thank you, Jeremy."

You're welcome, Aelita. I love you... and we're going to get through all of this." The young woman smiled and was very glad that at least something good happened that day.

"I love you too Jeremy, I know we will."


	13. Frugal Living

_Late August_

_Frugal Living_

_... we'd like to thank you for your time, but the position has already been filled._

Aelita exited out of her email with a sigh. It turned out that the jobs available for a quantum physicist were few and far between, and it seemed like her young age wasn't doing her any favors either. Knowing that Jeremy was very unhappy at his job she even applied to out of state, and even positions abroad... but no prospects yet. She glanced over at the sketch of her and the other Lyoko Warriors that Odd had drawn for Jeremy that they kept on their end-table, years before for his birthday. She felt a twinge of sadness at not being able to see her friends for the Lyoko Warriors' reunion coming up.

She sighed again as a rumble of hunger suddenly emanated from her belly. The clock on the corner of her computer screen informed her that she should start on dinner if she wanted to have it done around the time that Jeremy got home.

Rummaging through the cupboards, she pulled out a couple cans of tuna, a bag of rice, and a few more ingredients to make a simple casserole. She had nothing against tuna, but since it was cheap they'd had it twice that week already and she was starting to get tired of it.

Almost an hour later, dinner was baking in the oven. Aelita was on the couch with her laptop submitting another resume when she heard the apartment door unlocking. The door swung open quickly and Jeremy hurried through, hastily closing it behind himself. Aelita dropped her laptop next to her and practically leapt off the couch and to her fiancé.

"Jeremy, what's wrong!?" She asked fervently. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Dr. Schmidt was outside..." Aelita's heart sank.

"What was he doing?" She asked quickly.

"Just... looking at the door. He seemed lost in thought," he replied. "I started to approach him, but when he saw me he left in a hurry."

"So he's gone now?" The young woman asked.

"For now at least," replied Jeremy. He pulled his fiancé into a quick hug and headed toward the bedroom to change. Aelita followed.

"I don't think we can just ignore this..." she trailed off.

"I know. but it's not like he's doing anything illegal, so we can't just call the police on him." Aelita paused for a moment. Despite her nerves, she couldn't keep a small smile from creeping to her face as she watched her soon-to-be husband change, but once he finished replacing his work clothes with a t-shirt and sweatpants she refocused on the problem at hand.

"Yeah. I think it'd be better if we avoided that sort of attention as much as possible too." Added Aelita with a sigh. The identification papers that Jeremy had fabricated for her, combined with some skillful hacking, had been good enough for her to get a legitimate U.S. passport and student Visa, but pushing their luck unnecessarily was something they both wanted to avoid.

"This is America, do you think we should try to... buy a gun or something?" Suggested Jeremy hesitantly, making his fiancé flinch and pale noticeably.

"I don't think I'd be able to use one on another person..." muttered Aelita. "Besides, neither one of us knows how to use one, and aren't they kind of expensive?" She argued.

"Yeah, I guess not then," he conceded. "How about pepper spray then?" Aelita still didn't like it, but it certainly seemed _much_ better than the lethality of a firearm!

"Ok, I think that would be a bit better." She replied. "I just hope that he happened to know my father, and that's it."

"Me too." The two of them walked out into the kitchen. Jeremy put his nose in the air and sniffed.

"Dinner smells good, what is it?" He asked curiously.

"It's just tuna and rice casserole." Jeremy's face fell for the briefest of moments before he put a smile back on. Aelita couldn't blame him for starting to get tired of tuna either. She hoped that she'd be able to find some packages cheap dark-meat chicken or something the next time she went to the store.

"Well, it smells delicious." The tall blond leaned over and kissed his fiancé on the cheek, making her smile. "I'll get the table ready."

"Thank you Jeremy."

* * *

"How was work today?" Asked Aelita once they had started dinner.

"Oh, you know. I hoped that Dr. Lowell would cool it once we were technically colleagues, instead of the mentor/mentee... unfortunately he seems to have gotten even worse," replied Jeremy, sighing before taking another bite of casserole.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy."

"Paul once said that Dr. Lowell saw me as a threat." Aelita groaned as Jeremy continued. "I'm starting to think he was right... now more than ever..." The two of them ate quietly for a few minutes until Jeremy broke the silence again. "How was your day?" He asked, causing the young woman to frown.

"I got another email turning me down." It was Jeremy's turn to frown. "I submitted another couple of resumes, but honestly I don't really want to talk about it now."

"Ok." The young couple continued eating quietly until dinner was almost over, but just as they finished eating Aelita had an idea.

"Jeremy, I think we should tell the others about Dr. Schmidt," she blurted, startling Jeremy.

"I'm not opposed to that, but wouldn't that just make them worry? It's not like they can do anything from the other side of the world." Aelita just grinned

"That's not true." Jeremy eyed his fiance curiously. "I was thinking that we could make sure that Ulrich and Yumi know how to execute a Return Trip. They do live pretty close to the factory after all. If something does end up happening, we'll have to make sure that we tell one of them before anything too bad can happen, then we can plan accordingly!" Jeremy sprouted a wide grin.

"That's a great idea! You're a genius Aelita!" Jeremy took Aelita's small hand in his and gave it a light squeeze while beaming at her.

"I'll try to get hold of them tomorrow while you're at work."

"And I'll grab a couple pepper sprays on my way home."

The two of them got up and started clearing the table. Once all the dishes had made their way to the kitchen, Jeremy put his hand on Aelita's shoulder and gently turned her toward himself.

"I love you, Aelita. We're going to be alright." He kissed her forehead. In return she pulled his face down and kissed his lips, letting it linger for just long enough to show that she meant it.

"I love you too, Jeremy." Turning to the sink she added, "I'll get dishes today."

"But you made dinner, so it's my turn to clean up," he protested, genuinely wanting to be helpful.

"And you're the one going to the job with a supervisor you can't stand," argued Aelita, giving her reluctant fiance a gentle shove toward the door. "I've got this." He turned back for a moment. "Yes, I'm sure," Aelita insisted before he could say anything.

"Ok. I'll work on making instructions for the Return to the Past ready for Ulrich and Yumi."

"That sounds like a good idea, and I'll translate it into layman's terms when I get out!" She exclaimed, causing both of them to laugh.

Jeremy walked out, and Aelita turned back toward the sink. Now that they had a plan in place, both of them felt a bit more at ease about Dr. Schmidt. Now if only she could find a job, then they'd be set...

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be a bit of a departure from my other works as it's going to be more about life in general than romance. That's not to say that there won't be romantic and/or fluffy moments/chapters (they are my favorite after all!), but that's going to take a back seat for the most part. I'm going to try to keep the main focus more on Jeremy and Aelita tackling life together as well as the non-romantic parts of their relationship. That all being said, I hope you bear with me on this one because also unlike the other stories I've written I don't really have a clear destination in mind for this story. I've got a general direction and a bunch of story ideas that I want to make happen, but ultimately I think that this one, like life sometimes, is going to do some wandering at times. Anyway, I hope you still like it.
> 
> On an unrelated note, the Lyoko warriors have made it into adulthood and marriages have happened/will happen. As such, relationships have/will become intimate. From here on out in this continuity I'm not really going to shy away from the fact that adult content happens, but I intend to be respectful to the characters and their privacy. That being said, there will be occasional mild adult situational humor and a bawdy joke once in a while (Especially if Odd's in the scene :p), but written content won't be any more graphic or vulgar than anything else I've written. While I won't be censoring/deleting reviews, I would greatly appreciate if you all could keep it mature.
> 
> One last thing, the name Einsteins at Work was the idea of Lyokowarrior1994 at FFN. His story Changing Destiny: Lila's Journey! Is really good and I've been enjoying following it.


End file.
